Elizabethan Theatres, And How Theatres Have Changed
Theatre, like most things, has evolved over the years, and is vastly different from what it was five hundred years ago. Macbeth by William Shakespeare was written during the Elizabethan era, which had playhouses which are very different from twenty first century theatres.
The first Elizabethan playhouse in England was built in 1576, just outside of London’s city boundaries. Simply named The Theatre, this building lead way for The Curtain, The Swan, The Rose, and The Globe (Rea). These theatres were built in a style known as an Amphitheater. They are open-air performance area which contain an elevated platform for a stage and a viewing area which surrounded the platform. Audiences played a gradually increasing amount of money based off of where they were located. For example, individuals who paid one penny stood in the yard for the duration of the performance, while those who paid six pence, the most you would pay for a ticket …show more content…
Similar in style to modern day cinemas, the hall had seats for every audience member. Hall playhouses could hold six hundred to seven hundred people, much less than an Amphitheater playhouse. The cheapest seats in the indoor playhouse cost six pence.
Actors had a severely limited amount of time to prepare their parts, resulting in them using “standardized” acting. During the Elizabethan era players were considered social outcasts. Acting was not considered a socially acceptable profession and the establishment found play watching unproductive (Gurr). At the time playwrights could be jailed if their plays were too controversial in nature. Women were not allowed to be actors at the time, thought the first female actor took to the stage in 1660 (Price).
After the end of World War two theater was reimagined in order to appeal to audiences. There were many attempts at this by an impressive array of
Theatre, like most things, has evolved over the years, and is vastly different from what it was five hundred years ago. Macbeth by William Shakespeare was written during the Elizabethan era, which had playhouses which are very different from twenty first century theatres.
The first Elizabethan playhouse in England was built in 1576, just outside of London’s city boundaries. Simply named The Theatre, this building lead way for The Curtain, The Swan, The Rose, and The Globe (Rea). These theatres were built in a style known as an Amphitheater. They are open-air performance area which contain an elevated platform for a stage and a viewing area which surrounded the platform. Audiences played a gradually increasing amount of money based off of where they were located. For example, individuals who paid one penny stood in the yard for the duration of the performance, while those who paid six pence, the most you would pay for a ticket …show more content…
Similar in style to modern day cinemas, the hall had seats for every audience member. Hall playhouses could hold six hundred to seven hundred people, much less than an Amphitheater playhouse. The cheapest seats in the indoor playhouse cost six pence.
Actors had a severely limited amount of time to prepare their parts, resulting in them using “standardized” acting. During the Elizabethan era players were considered social outcasts. Acting was not considered a socially acceptable profession and the establishment found play watching unproductive (Gurr). At the time playwrights could be jailed if their plays were too controversial in nature. Women were not allowed to be actors at the time, thought the first female actor took to the stage in 1660 (Price).
After the end of World War two theater was reimagined in order to appeal to audiences. There were many attempts at this by an impressive array of