Shakespeare in the theatre

Gwen Herat

DRAMA: The great play-writer that he was, Shakespeare never had the luxury of mounting his plays in a theatre and had to wait for its advent but he was blessed with a string of talented male actors with whom he travelled playing in market places, inn-yards, halls and in the open.

The Bard was not left to be undone when an Elizabethan joiner named James Burbage (1530-1597) saw an opportunity for the theatre that would be a permanent place for performing arts which also looked profitable.

He secured a patent for a permanent London company in 1576 and built an outdoor theatre which he called The Theatre. It was at this venue that Shakespeare's Company known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men would perform eventually with Burbage's son Richard as the leading actor in the plays.

No sooner the players were commissioned, they needed more scripts to lure the new theatre-goers. The idea caught on and lured many others to have outdoor theatres which resulted in big names like The Curtain, The Swan, The Fortune, The Hope and The Rose.

There was high competition as people flocked to see more and more plays. At the same time, children's companies sprang and they became popular, playing in indoor theatre.

Tradition

In a culture deeply wedded in tradition where the people were expected to look into established groups such as noble households or trade guilds. The Theatre occupied a confused position in Elizabethan society under this set-up. The first group of players honoured this need by securing a patron.

Technically, groups such as Lord Pembroke's Men or Lord Chamberlain's Men were part of these noblemen's households. They were the liveried staff attending on the nobles.

Without this status, players would have been considered as 'Rouges', vagabonds and beggars under the legislation of 1572 that was designed to reassert traditional social structure. However in practice, the players were allowed to be their own masters.

The fast developing professional companies may have contained servants of a lord but they were supported by the public. In their eyes they were professional actors whom they admired and came to see.

The players companies were allowed to perform with no restriction placed on them only in London so that they would be ready to perform at Court when required because Court performances were valuable source of prestige and extra income.

However, in practice their regular performance developed a new kind of relationship between the players and the audience. Towards the end of the century, theatre-going had developed into a craze.

But they faced another problem. Although protected and watched over by the great Queen Elizabeth, the players and their London theatres were far from being secure. Their enthusiasm and novelty which they aroused, alarmed the puritans and traditionalists.

They were the brigade from the old school who were not willing to move with time. In 1578 a preacher thundered against this new community of players and the theatre-goers.

During this turbulent period a plague had broken over London (this true incident is used by the Bard in Romeo and Juliet) and those who opposed were satisfied as the theatres being closed down temporarily until the plague was cleared off.

The City of London, which then, as now, had some jurisdiction within the city walls tended to oppose the theatre. This was partly on moral grounds attributed to the players were promoting vices. This was a situation they could not comprehend in the face of drama being relatively free of ponderous and explicit moralizing earlier literature.

The City fathers expressed concern about the youth whom they feared would take to the theatre abandoning their workplaces.

They also feared the spreading of the plague by the players who came from all parts of the city.

Location

Following what was taking place in the City, Sir James Burbage built the Theatre to the north of the city because all outdoor theatres were situated outside the city, either in the north or like the Globe and the Rose, on the south bank of Thames. This location was a part of Surrey then.

By 1594 the Lord Chamberlaine's Men including Shakespeare were residents at James Burbage's Theatre. As the lease was to end 1597, Burbage decided to move out to an indoor theatre in Blackfriars. He purchased the site and moulded the theatre but it fell foul because of objections that the company was drawing low life into the neighbourhood.

That resulted the company losing their London base which followed Burbage sinking his capital into an unstable theatre. In the midst of this major crisis James Burbage died.

After struggling for sometime the company took off with Burbage's sons, Cutbert and Richard pulling off a coup. Because he did not care for plays and because he had eyes on the valuable timber in the theatre, the landlord refused to renew the lease.

The Burbage brothers were not to be outdone as they rallied a group of workmen and dismantled the Theatre. They flit over to the south of the bank and built it anew. This was the first Globe Theatre, the theatre for which most of the Bard's plays were intended.

Audience

The Globe was open to the skies. It was large and airy seated a large audience in many of the galleries. The capacity was said to have been about for 3000 theatre-goers with room left for future expansion. The Burbage brothers were elated that their father's dream was taking shape.

The theatre became popular because the audiences of the outdoor theatres were socially more diverse while the Globe prospered, they were short of capital and the brothers made a unique deal with the leading shares of the actors company.

Five of them with Shakespeare being one, were to put up the part of the capital for the Globe. This new deal secured the Lord Chamberlaine's Men unknown to the other acting companies.

While other companies remained routinely, the Lord Chamberlaine's Men remained intact through to the closure of the London theatre in 1642., By then they were known as The King's Men.

By 1609, the theatre would move out to Blackfriars but the summer, they were back at the Globe. The winter months were from October to May and the summer months, May to September.

When the Globe mysteriously burnt down in 1613, the company could have gone to Blackfriars but instead, they rebuilt their Globe. It took ten years from 1599 to 1699 for the Globe to prove its worth and excellence.

..................................

<< Artscope Main Page