Thursday 15th September - Prep Task
On the Shakespeare's Globe website go to -
Education - Discovery Space - Fact Sheets
I would like you to read your assigned fact sheet and then comment below with the 5 points that you think are most helpful to your study of Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare - Sarah
London - Liv
Special Effects - Lucy
The Globe - Alena
Playhouses - Dave
Audiences - Grace
Indoor Theatres - Olivia
Writing Plays - Anthony
Actors - Maria
Costumes and Cosmetics - Jess
The Third Globe - Emily
Actors
ReplyDelete- only boys and men would act as a profession (in public theatres)
- boys would play female parts/men play older women
- actors had to be able to sword fight, sing, dance as well as having a good memory for line learning
- Actors would perform in the afternoon as they relied on natural daylight, rehearsed in the morning.
- Actors sometimes specialized when being given parts - Shakespeares clown was given to William Kemp because he worked well in physical comedy.
Indoor Theatres
ReplyDelete-The first one was St Paul's and was built in 1575
-They were temporary theatres inside existing buildings, with candle light for lighting and they were used for private performances but were free to the public
-Indoor theatres were mostly used by boy companies (7-20 years of age)
-The audiences were more educated and rich and consisted of 500 people unlike outdoor theatres which held thousands.
-The plays which were performed were mostly made up of speeches rather than action and the props were more sparkly.
Emily and The Third Globe:
ReplyDelete-It was built by a chap called Sam Wanamaker who created the third globe to pursue his long term dream of reconstruction. Reconstruction began place in 1970 (meaning there was a 27 year time lapse of creation, in which unfortunantley Wanamaker died without seeing his final globe)
-The globe was built as close to the river as possible (however further research didn't help me as to why? Was it for accessibility or to be closer to other theatres , so there was more attraction to it?)
-They used the same kind of wood from the original globe (green oak- in order to make it seem as similar, authentic and of the same time)
-All of the creation techniques were the same for those of Shakespeare;s day, in terms of carpentry and fixing things together with wooden posts etc
-The main difference between the third globe and the original is the modern twists such as having to have fire exits for obvious safety reasons (this was brought into place after the great fire of London in 1666! As well as modern ideas of comfort meaning that bench seating is allocated and numbered rather than everyone being a free for all.
-Finally, the first performance in the reconstructed third globe was in 1993 although the globe didn't officially re open until 1997!
Audience-
ReplyDelete1: most of london's society went to the theatre in the 1600's. There were normally more men who went then women.
2: companies were brought to Elizabeth and James's courts, rather than them going to the globe
3:open air theatres only cost 1p and for another 1p you could buy a ticket with a seat. Indoor theatres cost 6p, because of the low prices this is why it was so popular.
4:audiences were quite rowdy, they cheered th heroes and booed the villains. It was commen for fights to break out and in 1612 music was banned as audiences had got in fights whilst dancing.
5:between 1560-1640, around 3,000 new plays were written.
Anthony and Writing Plays
ReplyDelete- Shakespeare’s 'The Taming of the Shrew' was a re-write of an earlier play and 'The Comedy of Errors' was based on a plot from an ancient Roman writer named Plautus.
- 'Histories' were stories about England’s past. Shakespeare's first play about Henry VI was so popular that he wrote a sequel and then a prequel.
- Tragedies told unhappy tales which often ended in deaths, like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare is famous for Othello and Hamlet. The tragedies often contained lots of blood and gore to entertain the crowds.
- Comedies, on the other hand, could be relied upon for happy endings, often weddings. Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona is especially happy; it ends with two weddings!
- Playwrights were not usually wealthy. They got no royalties or repeat fees if their plays were performed many times. They just got a one-off fee for selling their play to an acting company.
Who built the globe?
ReplyDeleteThe first Globe was built by the company Shakespeare was in – the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Where was it built?
Southwark was a good place for the new theatre. It was outside the control of the city of cials (who were hostile to theatres).
The walls were made from big timber frames, Filled with smaller slats of wood covered with plaster that had cow hair in it.
In 1599 the theatre opened and was a huge success.
Probably the first Shakespeare play to be performed at the Globe was Julius Caesar, in 1599
A piece of burning wadding set re to the thatch. The theatre burned down in about an hour.
Thanks for your prep Alena. There seem to be some spelling typos, maybe you were rushing. Always proof read before you submit. When did it burn down?
DeleteA cannon ball could be rolled from one end to the
ReplyDeleteother to make a thundering noise.
Lightning flashes were made by throwing a powder made from resin into a candle flame. It lit with a flash.
Firecrackers were made by filling rolls of thick paper with gunpowder, which produced sparks and then a bang.
Good spirits and gods and goddesses usually entered through a trapdoor in the Heavens. The actors were lowered on a rope or
a wire. This was called ‘flying in’.
Theatre companies used smoke mostly as a magic effect, although it was sometimes used to suggest a fire. They could make black, white, yellow and red smoke – depending on the chemicals they mixed together.
Thank you for your prep Lucy, can you provide any examples of performances that used these effects?
Delete