The Globe Theater Mattie Martin, Period 2

Research Question: What is the Globe Theatre, and how did it influence the world?

Thesis / Main claim / Hypothesis: The Globe Theatre influenced modern theatre through its architecture, audience participation, and design

The Globe Theater: Architecture

Quote: "Globe Theatre, London playhouse, built in 1598, where most of Shakespeare's plays were first presented. It burned in 1613, was rebuilt in 1614, and was destroyed by the Puritans in 1644. A working replica opened in 1997" (Globe).

Commentary: In my understanding, The Globe Theatre has been around for many decades. Shakespeare was very smart, I believe, on his part to buy "The Theatre" of of the brothers, Cuthbert and Richard Burbage. I am very familiar with the theater and everything it has to offer, because I am apart of a theater company, and I am around it most of the time.

The Globe Theater: Architecture 2

Quote: "In his Henry V, Shakespeare called his theater a wooden O. It was large, round (or polygonal) building, three stories high, with a large platform stage that projected from one end into a yard open to the sky" (Anderson).

Commentary: I believe that Shakespeare was, also, very smart in designing to have a big hole in the roof of the theater. This way there is no need for special lighting effects. There is just all natural light which makes it less stressful for everyone. As I said before, I am very familiar to the theater, so I know how things work. Well this past month, my theater program just finished the production Oliver, and instead of doing the show I actually was apart of the crew instead. I did sound, so basically the microphones, and sound effects. Now this was a difficult job at first, but once I got used to it, it was pretty easy. The lighting director was in the same facility as I was when we would do the shows, and he would have to listen to cues that were given to him by the stage manager through a headset. If he missed his cue then the lights would go up late, and the audience would not be able to see what is happening on stage in the first half of the seen or song. Shakespeare was very smart, as I had mentioned a few times before, he had probably thought about all the difficulties managing lights would be so he had a short cut around it, and cut a huge hole in the roof of the theater.

The Globe Theater: Architecture 3

Quote: "Sleek in its design, the lines of the complex are smooth and industrial, with an entry way constructed predominantly of glass panels set within metal frames" (Pye).

Commentary: The theater I know today is much different from the one back in Shakespeare's day. Our theater's are obviously more detailed and complex than theater's back then. They would only use one backdrop for the whole play, and nowadays we have actual sets that we have to build and take apart. We also have props that the actors can use in a scene or musical number. We have spotlights, and microphones that we tape to people's faces, and a lot of other things as well.

The Globe Theater: Audience Participation

Quote: "Since London is now almost more an international than a national city, the audiences usually contained a good number of people who understood the languages" (Spurling).

Commentary: In today's theater, the audience does not usually participate with the actors while they are performing. It takes away from what they are trying to explain while they are acting. The actors on stage are trying to recreate, and tell a story, almost, for the audience to watch, and enjoy. However, if the actor does or says something funny then the audience will, for the most part, laugh at what is being said or done. In addition, if the actor does or says something towards the audience then they usually are allowed to chime in, and go along with it. Also, plays are almost always in english and not another language. Now, it also depends on the play, a show can have accents if the play is set in a certain time era or place. If it was set in England they would have British accents. If it was set in Paris they would have French accents.

The Globe Theater: Audience Participation 2

Quote: "On Shake­speare’s 450th birthday, while the revels filled streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, a new production of Hamlet premiered at the Globe" (Shakespeare).

Commentary: As it says in the quote the streets were filled with people, that is one thing that today's theater and Shakespeare's time theater had in common. In my theater program, we have 6 shows per show, and they usually all sell out. The audience is a very big part in the theater world as well, because without them, the actors and actresses would not have anyone to perform for. Today you would have to buy your ticket and reserve your seat in advance, however back then, you just had to pay a fee, and it was basically first come first serve. And I believe that there were no seats in The Globe, you had to stand the whole time.

The Globe Theater: Audience Participation 3

Quote: "This clever introduction to the world of Shakespeare's varied characters uses a cumulative poem to give basic plot details of nine of the playwright's works" (Menaldi-Scanlan).

Commentary: As you can see in the quote, someone wrote about their experience of seeing one of Shakespeare's plays. This is from the audience's perspective. Coming in as one of the audience members, seeing a show, it is very exciting because, if you are not familiar with the play already, you do not know what is going to happen in the play at all. This is also a little good for the actors as well, because if they mess-up then the audience never really can tell, if the actor covers it up good. Being an audience member is also one of the most important parts of the play. The actors and actresses are taking you on a journey through acting, singing, and dancing, and it is the audience member's job to watch and listen carefully so they do not miss anything.

The Globe Theater: Design

Quote: "The symmetry of Shakespeare's Globe that has been recently defined by John Orwell can be explained with exactness by the Vitruvian scheme of a circle with triangles that determines the proportional relationship between such features as the stage and the seating galleries" (Kohler).

Commentary: Each theater is designed differently. In Fallbrook, the Bob Burton theater has close to 160 seats, I believe, however the Murrieta Mesa High School theater has close to 200 seats. It all just depends on how the designer wants it. Our theater, here at Chaparral, is very very small compared to other high school's. Our stage is very small, and so is our audience. At the Bob Burton theater, there is a catwalk, where the spot lights are, on the ceiling of the theater. They have that, because they have a big enough theater. Unfortunately, we do not have a big enough theater.

The Globe Theater: Design 2

Quote: "Its stage occupied the open-air space, with a pit in front for standing viewers" (Michael).

Commentary: In today's theaters, if there is something called a "pit" it is for the orchestra. It is usually an area that is under the stage. It is underground. There is a part of the stage that can come off, and if someone happens to lean over the stage then they will see all the musicians, and the conductor. There is also a net above the pit. This is for when they do a show like Peter Pan. Obviously Peter flies, so they have to make him fly, as well as Wendy, Michael, and John. So they get have a harness, and everything. Once they are in the air, if something were to happen and one of the ropes broke then there is a net above the pit so the actor does not break something when they fall.

The Globe Theater: Design 3

Quote: "I do so not in the spirit of an ecocriticism that locates in the drama either eco-aware paradigms for right living or prefigurations of more modern ecological science" (Nardizzi).

Commentary: Modern day theaters definitely do not look like the theaters from Shakespeare's time. Their theater's were defiantly bigger, that is what I think. Our theaters today are a good size, but they could definitely squeeze more people in the old theaters, because people would stand when they watched a play. Nowadays we have seats where people can sit down in, and relax while they watch the play.

The Globe Theater: Design 4

Quote: "As Martin was pondering over these reports he heard of a ‘discovery’ of about 1891 of a semi- circular wooden structure tentatively identified as the Globe" (Bowsher).

Commentary: When people first heard about the Globe Theater, many heard that is was going to be in a dome shape, which is not really normal for a theater, because there is really no space in a dome shape, but Shakespeare obviously had a different vision than all of the other people. This was actually a very smart thing, because the sound would echo throughout it, and the actors did not have to project as much, because the shape of the theater did all the work.

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,

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Bowsher, Julian M.C. "Twenty Years On: The Archaeology Of Shakespeare's London

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Reference Center. Web. 7 Dec. 2016

"Brush Up Your Shakespeare!." British Heritage 35.5 (2014): 63. History

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Kohler, Richard C. "Vitruvian Proportions In Theater Design In The Sixteenth And

Early Seventeenth Centuries In Italy And England." Shakespeare Studies

(0582-9399) 16.(1983): 265. Literary Reference Center. Web. 7 Dec. 2016

Menaldi-Scanlan, Nancy. "Welcome To The Globe!: The Story Of Shakespeare's

Theater (Book)." 50.2 (2004): 81-82. Literary Reference Center. Web. 4 Dec.

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NARDIZZI, VIN. "Shakespeare's Globe And England's Woods." Shakespeare Studies

(0582-9399) 39.(2011): 54-63. Literary Reference Center. Web. 7 Dec.

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Pye, Valerie Clayman. "Shakespeare's Globe: Theatre Architecture And The

Performance Of Authenticity." Shakespeare (1745-0918) 10.4 (2014):

411-427.Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Nov. 2016

Seidel, Michael. "Globe Theatre." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2016. Web. 18

Nov. 2016

Spurling, John. "This Wooden O." Hudson Review 65.2 (2012): 300-302. Literary

Reference Center. Web. 30 Nov. 2016

"William Shakespeare." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2016):

1­4. History Reference Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

Credits:

Created with images by tonynetone - "William Shakespeare" • kevinofsydney - "the globe theatre" • marybettiniblank - "globe london theatre" • ms.Tea - "untitled image" • SPakhrin - "Shakespeare Globe"

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