Shakespearean Theatre
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
The physical structures of the theatre, the actors and the tastes of the audience at the time influenced Shakespeare's playwriting in many ways. In the late 1500's, Elizabethan plays were being performed in two kinds of theatre buildings (public or private theatres). Public theatres were larger than private ones and held at least 2,500 people. They were built around a courtyard that had no roof. Public theatres gave performances only during daylight hours because they had no artificial lights. Private theatres were smaller, roofed structures. They had candlelight for evening performances. Private theatres charged higher prices and were designed to attract upper-class patrons. Because Shakespeare wrote most of his plays for public theatres, this section deals chiefly with the design and structure of such buildings.
Elizabethan theatres were generally built after the design of the original 'Theatre?..