Where is the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe located?

It is near the site of the original Globe Theater built in 1599.

How many spectators could the original Globe Theater accommodate?

It could accommodate up to about 3,000 spectators.

What was the cost of entering the theater and where did the term 'box office' originate?

The entrance cost a penny, and the term 'box office' originated from the money being placed in a box.

What was the value of costumes in the Globe Theater?

Costumes were highly valuable, more so than the plays themselves, and carried huge symbolic meanings.

Who played the female roles in Shakespeare's time?

All roles, including female parts, were played by boys aged between 12 and 20.

Why was there a canopy over the stage in the Globe Theater?

The canopy, painted with stars, protected valuable costumes from the elements and symbolized the heavens.

What was hidden beneath the stage and how was it used?

A 'hell' existed beneath the stage, accessible via a trap door, used for dramatic effects in plays like Hamlet.

What does the 'discovery space' refer to in the theater?

It's a place behind a curtain where scenes or actors could be revealed for dramatic effect.

How did the Globe Theater accommodate changes of scenes without elaborate sets?

Through symbolic costumes and minimal props, leveraging powerful language to stir the audience's imagination.

What natural conditions affected performances in Shakespeare's Globe?

As performances were in daylight, weather conditions like rain and sunlight impacted how scenes were imagined.

Globe Theatre: Performance during Shakespeare's time

00:09:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ec5xtt6Hs

Résumé

TLDRStephen Greenblatt takes us through the architectural and historical nuances of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, emphasizing its open-air design and capacity to host up to 3,000 standing spectators. In 1599, a penny allowed entry into a theater devoid of artificial lighting or elaborate sets. Costumes held immense value, both financially and symbolically, given the absence of extensive stage decorations. All roles, including female ones, were performed by young boys, acclaimed for their adept portrayal of women. The theater featured distinct architectural facets, like a canopy symbolizing the heavens and a 'hell' beneath the stage used for dramatic effects. Despite its simple design, the Globe innovatively utilized available spaces, such as a 'discovery space,' where key scenes unfolded. Greenblatt highlights how the Globe engaged the audience's imagination, invoking entire worlds through language, even under the variable London weather conditions.

A retenir

🎭 Shakespeare's Globe Theater was a major hub for Elizabethan plays, accommodating 3,000 spectators.
🥼 Costumes were more valuable than the plays, symbolizing social status and story elements.
👦🏻 Boys aged 12-20 played all roles, including female ones, showcasing extraordinary talent.
⛅ The open-air theater functioned without artificial sets, relying on the audience's imagination.
🎨 The canopy painted with stars symbolized the heavens, offering elemental protection.
⚙️ Stage space included 'discovery spaces' and 'hell' under the stage for dramatic effects.
📚 The term 'box office' stems from the penny charges stored in a box upon entry.
🏰 Available gallery spaces doubled as balconies or castle ramparts for certain scenes.
🌦️ Performances occurred in daylight, with actors adapting to weather such as sun and rain.
🎶 Musicians and sound cues enhanced key moments, adding depth despite limited visual effects.

Chronologie

00:00:00 - 00:09:16
Stephen Greenblatt discusses the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which serves as an authentic representation of the theatrical environment during Shakespeare's time. The open-air design, with a thrust stage surrounded by up to 3,000 standing spectators, had no artificial lighting or elaborate sets. Instead, costumes held significant symbolic value. Wealth could buy better seating, such as a penny for gallery access or more for seats with cushions. Boys, not women, played female roles, traveling often commented on their talent comparing them favorably against female performers they saw abroad. The Globe's construction, including a canopy painted with stars and a trap door symbolizing hell, added to the theatrical effects.

Carte mentale

Vidéo Q&R

Where is the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe located?
It is near the site of the original Globe Theater built in 1599.
How many spectators could the original Globe Theater accommodate?
It could accommodate up to about 3,000 spectators.
What was the cost of entering the theater and where did the term 'box office' originate?
The entrance cost a penny, and the term 'box office' originated from the money being placed in a box.
What was the value of costumes in the Globe Theater?
Costumes were highly valuable, more so than the plays themselves, and carried huge symbolic meanings.
Who played the female roles in Shakespeare's time?
All roles, including female parts, were played by boys aged between 12 and 20.
Why was there a canopy over the stage in the Globe Theater?
The canopy, painted with stars, protected valuable costumes from the elements and symbolized the heavens.
What was hidden beneath the stage and how was it used?
A 'hell' existed beneath the stage, accessible via a trap door, used for dramatic effects in plays like Hamlet.
What does the 'discovery space' refer to in the theater?
It's a place behind a curtain where scenes or actors could be revealed for dramatic effect.
How did the Globe Theater accommodate changes of scenes without elaborate sets?
Through symbolic costumes and minimal props, leveraging powerful language to stir the audience's imagination.
What natural conditions affected performances in Shakespeare's Globe?
As performances were in daylight, weather conditions like rain and sunlight impacted how scenes were imagined.

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STEPHEN GREENBLATT: We're standing in front
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of Shakespeare's Globe, a modern reconstruction
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near the site of Shakespeare's own Globe Theater, built in 1599.
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And this reconstruction is the best way, really,
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of getting a sense of what Shakespeare's actual theatrical practice
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of his own time would have been like.
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It's an open air theater in the around.
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It accommodated up to about 3,000 spectators crowded in, most of them
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standing in front of the stage.
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There was a trestle stage that thrust out into the crowd.
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The crowd surrounded it.
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And then there were galleries.
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So you paid a penny to get into this theater.
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The money was put in a box.
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That's why we have the term box office.
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And then if you had the money and you had another penny,
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you could get out of the sun or out of the rain at least as often
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and pay to be in one of the gallery places
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where there was at least a little roof over your head.
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If you had another penny, you could get a chair with a cushion.
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And if you had a lot of money, sixpence--
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at the time, that's a substantial amount of money--
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you could get one of the seats behind the stage or possibly even
00:01:07
on the stage, that were terrible from the point of view of seeing the play,
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but were great in terms of having people see the beautiful clothes that you are
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wearing, which evidently was an important part of the experience
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of the theater in Shakespeare's time.
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The theater had no artificial lighting.
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And it had no sets of the kind with which we're familiar.
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It had a chair that could be brought on and off the stage
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or a bed that could be brought on and off the stage, but basically
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nothing like the sets that to which we're accustomed,
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as it had no curtain also, no illusion.
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There's a platform.
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And on the platform, there are the actors,
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who must have developed very powerful voices,
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as well as powerful memories, because they
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could speak their plays out and be heard by 2,000 or 3,000 people in the round
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space.
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The theater was not without some sense of something other than simply
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the flat stage, because it had two columns that held up a kind of canopy
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over the playing space.
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The canopy over the playing space was important for one thing
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because the single most valuable property
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that the players owned were costumes.
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These theaters paid much more for a good costume than they paid for a play.
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The costumes were valuable in themselves.
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And they were valuable symbolically, because especially
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in a stage without sets, the costumes carried huge symbolic meaning if you
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wore the cloak of a nobleman, if you wore the regalia, at least that
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could conjure up, the idea of a king, or for that matter if you
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wore a beautiful dress.
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And there were beautiful dresses worn.
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They were worn by an entirely male company.
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That means that all of the great, and minor for that matter,
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female parts-- Desdemona, Ophelia, Cleopatra, the like--
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were played by boys.
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They were talented actors, usually between the ages of 12 and 20.
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And they were evidently very gifted at conveying, especially
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in their beautiful costumes, the life, the manners, the impression of women.
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In fact, Englishman who traveled abroad in the late 16th and early 17th century
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and went to places like Venice where they could see actual women on stage
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remarked that it was amazing how good the women were there
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at performing the women's parts, almost as good as the boy actors in London.
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Evidently, the boy actors were very, very good indeed.
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And the company had a big stake financially in the costumes
00:04:02
that they own.
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Hence, the great pillars that rose up out of the platform stage also
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provided protection by holding a canopy over the actors
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so they wouldn't have to stand out in the rain.
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But also there was another symbolic association
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with that canopy, which was often painted with stars
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and conveyed the idea of the heavens above the heads of the actors.
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Just as there was the heavens symbolically
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above the stage held up by those columns,
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so too there was a hell below the stage.
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That hell was the space under the trestle stage,
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not visible to the crowd surrounding the stage,
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but accessible through a trap door that could be opened on the stage.
00:04:51
And we know that it was used on lots of different occasions
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in the theater, Shakespeare's plays and in others, most notably in Hamlet.
00:05:00
You will remember that Hamlet hears the ghost moving
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like a mole under the stage.
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And he himself moves around listening for the ghost.
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And the ghost indeed cries out from below the stage, swear, swear.
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You hear the voice rising up from below the stage.
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Or an Act V of Hamlet when the dead Ophelia is interred underground,
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they must have used that space.
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They must have opened the trap door and lowered her there.
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And indeed, when Laertes leaps into the grave in mourning
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and Hamlet jumps after him to wrestle with Laertes
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to try to prove who's the most filled with grief,
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they must have used that space.
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In addition, there was a curtain that could be drawn
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in that space between the two curtains.
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And directly behind those two columns, there was a curtain space.
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And that was called a discovery space.
00:06:02
Often things could be revealed in that space.
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You could draw the curtain and reveal something.
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Someone could emerge from that space.
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You could produce certain powerful effects there.
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And behind that space, in turn, was something
00:06:14
known as the tiring house, a place where they would keep the costumes
00:06:17
and indeed in which the actors could go and quickly change costumes.
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Changes of costume are often quite important in this theater because it
00:06:27
marks, as it does for us now, significant changes
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in the lives and fates of the actors, of the characters in the play.
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You might remember that Hamlet's ghost appears
00:06:38
in Act I in full armor with his bevor up, that is to say his face mask up.
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And then when he returns to the closet scene to the queen's bedroom,
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he appears in his nightgown.
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And that marks an important change, profound change
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in the ghost relation to the action and the ghost relation to the characters
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and indeed perhaps in the fate of the ghost himself.
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So in addition to that, there was yet another space
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that the actors could use, which were the gallery spaces behind the stage
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up above that could be used, for example, as balcony
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or as the ramparts of a castle and other places in which you could have an actor
00:07:25
appear.
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And you could also have musicians appear there
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and, for example, trumpeters or drummers who are marking
00:07:33
significant moments in the play.
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So that even though it's, by our standards, an extremely simple play
00:07:41
space with nothing in the way of very, very, very little-- let's not
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say not nothing-- but very little in the way of equipment
00:07:51
to produce certain illusory effects.
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Nonetheless, there were lots of possibilities
00:07:56
that the playing companies had, including even on unusual occasions,
00:08:02
probably some devices to enable descents, for example,
00:08:06
from up above on to the stage.
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But much, much less than we have.
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And the powerful sense of entering into an illusion
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depended as Shakespeare himself famously says at the beginning of Henry V
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on using the imagination of the audience,
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of encouraging the audience to enter into the fantasy and, of course,
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through Shakespeare's special gift of language
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to conjure up whole worlds that are not present before their eyes.
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But we should remember that in this theater when Romeo, for example, in one
00:08:46
of the most famous scenes Shakespeare ever
00:08:48
wrote is at night under Juliet's window, or in Hamlet when the ghost appears
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at midnight on the battlements, you would
00:08:59
be standing in the afternoon in full sun or perhaps
00:09:02
with the rain coming down on a London afternoon
00:09:05
and conjuring up that world in your imagination.