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Hi! Welcome to Shakespeares' Globe Theatre! This theatre is a remake of the original Globe
which was an amazing place. It was home to most of Shakespeare's exciting and gripping
plays. It was a great experience for the richer people,
who had much better seats (in fact they were the only ones who had seats!), but the peasants
or groundlings didn't have such a good time, though, as we'll find out later on.
You would have set off at around lunchtime. This is because all plays took place in the
day as electricity had not been invented yet. You could have arrived by boat across the
Rive Thames or even by using a horse and cart across London Bridge but that was only if
you were very rich! Most people would have saved the ferry fare and simply walked across
London Bridge. As you approached the magnificent theatre
you would notice a flag flying in the whistling wind which was to show that a performance
was taking place that day. Plays begun at exactly 2 o'clock so to hurry everyone along
a deafening gunshot was fired from the tower. These performances happened every day of the
week except Sundays and during Lent. The theatre was also closed from October until April because
of the freezing weather that the audience would not have been protected from.
So, let's take a tour of the inside of Shakespeare's wonderful Globe!
This is the stage and it has two pillars either side to support the actor's roof. This is
called the 'Heavens' and it's normally painted with stars, a sun and a moon. It is also where
props and actors are lowered on pulleys. Back here are the musicians' galleries where
they play their instruments to make music and sound effects. Very rich and important
people like the Queen sit here in the 'Gentlemen's Rooms' too as they want to be on show to everyone
in the theatre. This costs them one whole shilling.
These are also called galleries but are for people watching the performance. These were
for fairly rich people and they cost 2-6 pence. Down here is the horrible stinky, rowdy and
very noisy pit. This is for the lower class citizens and those who watch from here are
known as 'groundlings'. They have to stand up for the entire play which is very tiring
after a very long performance that can sometimes last 4 hours!
When the audience has settled the play will commence.
Back in 1592, in the original theatre, the spectators made a lot of noise. People go
among the crowds to sell food and drink for people to eat or even throw at the actors!
It was a very smelly place: open buckets were used as toilets!
Thanks for watching task two about Shakespeare's Theatre. I hope you enjoyed it!