Globe Theatre

Globe Theatre is the name of an Elizabethan theater building on the south bank of the River Thames in London, which occupies a significant place in the history of theater in particular by performances of William Shakespeare's works. It was built in 1599. Also, several modern replicas of the theater in London and other places bear the name of Globe.

Original Globe Theatre (1599/1614)

The Globe Theatre built in 1599, built in Bankside, a London suburb on the right bank of the Thames. Here, outside the city center, was the recognized amusement center, and here it was, next to the Globe, still more places of entertainment such as the theater of The Swan, The Rose, The Fortune and The Hope, as well as an arena for the very popular Bear Baiting in which a chained bear had to fight against canine and human opponents.

The Globe was built by the acting troupe The Lord Chamberlain's Men (later renamed The King's Men ), to which William Shakespeare belonged. Owner was a proportion Community. It consisted of the brothers Richard and Cuthbert Burbage ( with a share of 25 percent each ), William Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Philips and Thomas Pope ( to 12.5 percent). Until 1597 they had the Theatre is one on the left side of the Thames, but the lease on the land ran out, and the group decided on the other side of the river, in Bankside, to build a modern new theater.

Shakespeare was the house poet of this company, and there all his plays were performed in the following years, and of course the many other playwright. It was the most successful theater of his time, and the pieces were with much pomp, with magnificent costumes, music, but the taste of the Elizabethans with only a few scenes listed.

The Globe was destroyed on June 29, 1613 by a fire that broke out after a gun was fired during a performance of the play Henry VIII and the thatched roof on fire sat. Very elaborate performances full of realistic ingredients were then quite common. The theater but was soon rebuilt, this time with a tiled roof, and opened in July of the following year.

In 1642 the Puritan government closed all places of amusement, and thus the theater. The Globe was empty and was demolished in 1644. In its place they built tenements, and the original site of this important theater was forgotten until 1989, remains of the foundations were rediscovered in the context of civil works.

Construction of the Globe Theatre

The exact shape and size of the Globe is also not yet known in the last details, but the essential facts are beyond dispute. It was a round or octagonal timber-frame building, three stories high and over 30 meters in diameter. It could accommodate more than 3,000 people. In a play of Shakespeare, Henry V, it is described as wooden O ( wooden O), and on a contemporary representation of the city of London, it is represented as a circular building.

The spectators were spread over several rooms. The cheapest seats were to be found in the courtyard ( the yard ) propagating in front of the big stage. There was standing room only, and the standing visitors (the groundlings ) had to pay a penny. In the court they thronged nut shells that covered the floor, and were exposed to the open air wind and rain.

In the surrounding galleries were covered seats, and the further you wanted to go up, the more the cost of a place - per each floor a penny more. Also for seat cushion had to be paid separately. The best place to lay next to or behind the stage. High lordships reserved these boxes (if they were not needed in the piece ), to be so very close to the drama, and of course to be seen by other visitors.

What is special, and the biggest difference to today's theaters, is well, apart from the unusual design, in the close proximity between spectators and actors. No place was more than 20 meters from the stage, and you were standing in the courtyard, so the actors were literally close enough to touch.

The rectangular stage protruded into the auditorium into ( Apron Stage ). She was about 15 feet wide and 9 feet deep. In contrast to the courtyard she was covered. This roof was not only to protect the actor against the unpredictable London weather, but was also used as part of the spectacles. It was splendidly painted, and called heaven ( the heaven ), from there were characters in the play to the stage fly ( be lowered on ropes ) and there was room for props.

Under the stage also was a room, basement ( cellarage ) called. Props could be brought through a trap door ( trapdoor ) from there on the stage, but also actors used this way to appear in spectacular fashion on the stage, so to speak, out of hell.

Several additions were at the stage back. At least the middle of which could be closed by a curtain and used as part of the playing area, for example for intimate scenes. The gallery on the first floor behind the stage was also used for performances. You could for example use it as a balcony, as in the famous scene from Romeo and Juliet, here was a speaker occur, or even a mountain to be climbed. On the top floor also musicians want to sit, the - common in Elizabethan theater - the pieces enriched with music. In some cases, these places were also awarded to well-paying audience.

Behind the stage, the rest rooms were ( tiring rooms or tiring house, from english to retire - retire ), the spaces in which to clothe the actors or were able to relax between their performances.

London's "Shakespeare's Globe" ( Reconstruction and opening in 1997 )

When the American actor Sam Wanamaker came to London in 1949, he wanted to visit the famous Globe Theatre and realized to his horror that it was not only gone, but that no one knew exactly where it had stood. Only a dirty bronze plaque on the wall of a brewery recalled. So he decided to reconstruct the most famous theater in England - maybe even the world - to make his life's work. 1997 Shakespeare 's Globe was finally opened and since then has performed every summer several pieces of the famous playwright on. Sam Wanamaker himself has not seen the opening, he died in 1993 from cancer. Committed involved in the initiative for the reconstruction of the theater and to the sponsors extraction were also the founding members of the 1983 in Bremen, founded Bremer Shakespeare Company, Dagmar papules and Norbert Kentrup adorn their name two of the first sponsors paving stones on the outer courtyard of the theater.

For the first artistic director of the Globe ( 1995-2005 ) appointed Wanamaker Mark Rylance, who had noticed him in 1992, when he at the construction site of the not yet existing theater Shakespeare's The Tempest aufführte with his former theater company Phoebus Cart. Through him and his spectacular performances, the Globe became famous and made independent of grants even profit, although it is open (May to September), only half a year.

However, the new theater is not located at its original location, because there the Anchor Terrace located at the Southwark Bridge Road -called houses of the 18th century, which are listed buildings and were not allowed to be demolished. So they built the reconstructed Globe about 230 meters away. It is the first house since the great fire of London in 1666, which was built with a thatched roof, because, since then are due to the fire risk such roofs in London prohibited. But you knew the modern safety regulations in so far to account for when the roof is now equipped with sprinkler systems and lightning conductors. In another concession to modern safety thinking is that instead of the original 3000 today only 1,500 spectators are allowed in the theater. This not only ensures that they can be comfortable and sit, but can leave the house in an emergency in no time.

Like the original, it is at the Globe to an open-air theater, today await the viewer of the courtyard under the open sky. It is no longer isolated, but is connected with a visitor center, where an exhibition is to see the meaning and history of the Globe, and where there are also meeting and teaching rooms, which are used especially in the winter after the end of the theater season.

Other replicas

One of the first attempts to recreate an Elizabethan theater, was Edward Lutgers ' replica of the Globe for the exhibition "Shakespeare's England " in Earl 's Court, London, in 1912. The building was built at a scale of 1:2 and therefore not large enough for performances. More or less exact copies of the Globe Theatres, whose accuracy depended on the theater of scientific knowledge in the appropriate time and by the particular intended use, were built again and again in the 20th century. For example, originated in 1936 for the " Texas Centennial Exposition " in Dallas, Texas, is an " Old Globe Theatre", which though very little of the original Globe had together.

A standing in the modified replica theater tradition in the form of a multi-storey structure made of wood and steel which has been implemented for the North Rhine- Westphalian State Garden Show 1988 in Rheda- Wiedenbrück, since 1991 is in Neuss and offers more than 500 spectators. Here every summer hosts a Shakespeare festival, occur in the class national and international troops and present the Shakespeare heritage in ever new forms.

Other replicas in Germany are located in Schwäbisch Hall ( the Haller Globe Theater of the open-air theater Schwäbisch Hall, built in 2000 ) and at Europa-Park in Rust ( 2000). In the film park Babelsberg a replica was made at the shooting of the film Anonymous. After filming this should mined and in Burghausen - be put up again - to match the upcoming National Exhibition. However, about one-third of the building would have been reusable for a reduction only, thus the project has shattered. Individual elements of the replica were integrated by the Shakespeare Company Berlin in their open-air stage in the conservation area nature park in southern section of Berlin- Schöneberg.

Other theater of the same name

Established in 1906, Hicks Theatre in London's West End was operated from 1909 to 1995 under the name of Globe Theatre. However, it has nothing except the name renamed with the Elizabethan Globe Theatre together and in 1995 in the Gielgud Theatre.

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