Globe Theatre Tyonna Caplan Period 2

These pictures are of what the Globe Theatre looks like on the inside and the outside.
The Globe Theater

Thesis: The Globe Theatre influenced the modern theatre through its structure, costumes, and audience participation.

Structure:

Quote #1: "The Globe was round or polygonal on the outside and probably round on the inside. The theater may have held as many as 3,000 spectators. Its stage occupied the open-air space, with a pit in front for standing viewers. The stage was surrounded by several levels of seating"(Seidel).

Commentary: This shows what the structure of the Globe theater was like. It states that the theater held up to 3,000 spectators and what the shape of the theater was like.

Quote #2: "Since no detailed plans of the original Globe survived, architects and scholars worked in a void--in spite of the vast reams of speculation churned out about the shape of the theater. Fortunately, meticulous perspective drawings of the neighborhood in the early 1600s give a close approximation of the theater's exterior. For the interior, the architects depended on sophisticated guesswork and plans from similar theaters, classical models by the Roman architect Vitruvius in vogue at the time" (Covington).

Commentary: This shows how since the old Globe Theater did not survive the fire, architects had to recreate it. This is significant because it tells how the theater looked after the fire and where the architects got the inspiration for the design from.

Quote #3: "...the theater was constructed as a 20-sided polygon, 100 feet in diameter and 45 feet high, with whitewashed, half-timber walls and a thatched roof crown. Inside, three tiers of wooden benches surround an open yard and platform thrust stage. Within the roofless theater, plays are staged in much the same way as when Shakespeare's troupe produced them--without sets, decor, microphones or spotlights, or any of the techno-wizardry and theatrical prestidigitation...The sole concession is a bank of floodlights to replicate daylight for evening productions" (Covington).

Commentary: This gives an idea on what the Globe Theater looked like. This also shows that Shakespeare did not use any microphones, special lighting, etc. for his plays. This is important because it shows how much it has changed from back then to modern day and how Shakespeare made his play without technology.

Quote #4: "Within the roofless theater, plays are staged in much the same way as when Shakespeare's troupe produced them--without sets, decor, microphones or spotlights, or any of the techno-wizardry and theatrical prestidigitation now standard in even the most low-budget West End musical. The sole concession is a bank of floodlights to replicate daylight for evening productions"(Covington).

Commentary: This shows how the producers didn't use sets decoration or microphones to improve the play. They did it naturally with light from the sun from the open theater. This is important because this shows how people now use that technique to make the play seem like it is from the Shakespeare time.

Costumes:

Quote #5: "In one interesting aspect the theater in Shakespeare's day was very different from the theater we know today. Plays were originally performed by the all-male medieval trade guilds, so all women's parts were played by boys. It would be many years before women appeared on stage in the professional English theater" ( Anderson 779).

Commentary: This shows that no women were allowed to play parts for the play and boys had to do it. This is significant because it influenced people later on to have women play female parts instead of the males playing every part.

Quote #6: "Costumes can also clarify the relationships among characters. For example, the warring sides in many Shakespearean history plays are identified by contrasting color schemes. Costumes also express the overall mood of the play, its style, and the emotional tone of individual scenes"(Wilmeth).

Commentary: This shows how Shakespeare used certain colors to show emotion or the relationship of the actor. This is important because Shakespeare influenced other plays to do the same later on in the years and use certain colors when the time is sad or happy.

Quote #7: "The stage was 'set' by the language...But costumes were often elaborate, and the stage might have been hung with colorful banners and trappings" (Anderson).

Commentary: This shows how the costumes were very detailed and had very carefully arrange parts to it. This is significant because this shows how people nowadays use the idea of very elaborate costumes to make the audience just as excited as Shakespeare's time.

Audience Participation:

Quote #8: "Suddenly, a voice from the standing crowd blurted out: "Don't do it, Julia." The actors stopped dead. In the intimacy of the open-air theater, this impassioned cry from the audience was like having an unexpected player thrust on stage--one incensed enough to rewrite the ending...Once more, a Globe audience had tossed a wrench in the theatrical works " (Covington).

Commentary: This shows how the audience will participate in the play. This is important because it intrigues the audience and makes them feel like they are the actors and actresses. It also makes it to that the play is more interesting when the audience is involved.

Quote #9: "Contemporary Globe audiences may smell better than their Elizabethan counterparts, but judging from performances of Two Gentlemen, to-day's audiences take to the interaction as to the manner born, playing their role of histrionic chorus to the hilt" (Covington).

Commentary: This shows how the audience would interact with the actors and almost play a role in the play. This is significant because it changed the way plays were brought up and how it's okay for the audience to participate in the play.

Quote #10: " In dramaturgical terms this fragile balance and collaboration between audience and performer creates an energy and atmosphere that can invigorate a visible, mobile, restless performance space such as the Globe Theatre...The audience at the Globe Theatre, now as then, are visible to one another, as they are to the performers”(Woods).

Commentary: This shows how the actors would use the energy the audience was giving to act out better. This is important because this shows how the audience changes the play and how they act out and perform as if they were in the play themselves.

Works Cited

Anderson, Robert. “Shakespeare and His Theatre.” Holt Literature & Language Arts: Mastering the California Standards: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, by G. Kylene Beers et al., Austin, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 2003, pp. 778-80.

Covington, Richard. “The Rebirth Of Shakespeare’s Globe.” Smithsonian 28.8 (1997): 65. History Reference Center. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.

Lander, Jesse M. “Shakespeare, William.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

Seidel, Michael. “Globe Theatre.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2016. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.

Wilmeth, Don B. “Theater.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2016. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.

WOODS, PENELOPE. “Skilful Spectatorship? Doing (Or Being) Audience At Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.” Shakespeare Studies (0582-9399) 43.(2015): 99-113. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6 Dec. 2016.

Credits:

Created with images by marybettiniblank - "london globe theatre theater" • heatheronhertravels - "Globe Theatre, South Bank," • lostajy - "The Globe Theatre (Interval)" • ms.Tea - "globe theater" • Anosmia - "Globe Theatre - Balboa Park" • JustABoy - "The Globe Theatre(5)" • mckaysavage - "UK - 27 - Globe Theatre" • mckaysavage - "UK - 28 - Globe Theatre"

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