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Table of Contents
The Globe Theatre in London is a theatre that has been around for 400 years. It has been used for many different theatrical productions. The Globe Theatre was even used by Shakespeare himself.
See the fact file below for more information on The Globe Theatre or alternatively, you can download our 29-page The Globe Theatre worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
THE FIRST GLOBE THEATRE
- In 1598, Shakespeare’s company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, had been performing at The Theatre on the north bank of the Thames.Β
- Due to a dispute with the landlord, Giles Allen, they had moved out.
- Richard Burbage, an important member of the company, proposed that the company buy some land on the south side of the Thames River and build their own theater.
- The south side of the Thames was a great place for theatres.
- The Globe Theatre was to be located outside of London, in the center of where people went to have fun.Β
- They had pubs, bear-baiting, and other theatres like their competition, The Rose Theatre.
- They didn’t have a lot of money to start this project, so they got supplies to build the Globe by taking apart the Theatre, which was owned by Burbage.
- The 17 men brought the timber to a warehouse owned by Peter Street on December 28th. This was so the timber would be safe over the winter months.
- They didn’t actually begin work on the Globe until the spring of 1599, and they probably didn’t finish until the summer of that year.
- Giles Allen, the landlord, was not happy to see the timber of The Theatre gone.Β
- He took the Lord Chamberlain’s Men to court.Β
- William Shakespeare owned a part of The Globe Theatre.Β
- He bought shares in the theatre little by little as his popularity grew. This made him more money as time went on.
ELIZABETHAN STAGE
- The Globe was similar to the Colosseum in Rome, but it was much smaller.Β
- Other Elizabethan theatres followed this same style of architecture, which were called amphitheaters.
- The Globe could hold up to 3,000 spectators in itsβ 100-foot diameter.
- The pit was an area at the bottom of the stage where people could watch a performance for just a penny.
- The groundlings were people who would yell and shout at the actors if they didn’t like the play.
- During the summer, the groundlings were also called stinkards.
- Colored flags were used to show what kind of play was being performed.
- They would raise a red flag for a historical play, white for a comedy, and black for a tragedy.
- There were no actresses performing at The Globe Theatre or any other theatre at that time. Young boys played the roles of girls and women.
- The crest above the entrance to The Globe had a motto in Latin that said, “The whole world is a playhouse.”
- Money from the audience was collected and put into boxes. The people who collected the money took the boxes backstage to a room called the box office.
- The trumpet announced to people that the play was about to begin so they could take their final places.
- The Bubonic Plague was a serious problem in London and it caused the Globe Theatre to close down twice.
- The Globe Theatre burnt down in 1613 when a fire started onstage.
- The fire that destroyed the historic building in England started when a cannon being used as part of a performance of Henry VIII set light to the thatched roof.Β
- The fire quickly spread and burned down the building in less than two hours.
- No one was hurt except for a man whose pants caught on fire. Someone put out the fire with a bottle of beer.
THE SECOND GLOBE THEATRE
- The Globe Theatre was rebuilt on the same spot in 1614.
- The Puritans closed The Globe Theatre in 1642 because they didn’t like stage plays.
- They turned it into housing for poor people.
THE PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE AT THE GLOBE
- William Shakespeare left his family and home in rural Stratford-upon-Avon to make his fortune in London in the late 1580s.
- Over the next 20 years, he produced some of the finest poems and plays in the English language.
- In his first decade in London, Shakespeare was successful as a playwright. He wrote many plays that were popular with audiences.
- His company built The Globe Theatre, making it the most popular theatre in London at the time.
- Shakespeare wrote three kinds of plays:
- Tragedies, which are plays about people with problems who usually die in the end
- Comedies, which are funny plays often involving marriage
- Histories, which are plays about real people and events in the past.
- Some of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies include Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet.
- Some of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies include The Tempest, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night.
- Shakespeare also wrote some of the most famous histories in English literature, such as Henry IV part I and II, Richard III, and Richard II.
THE GLOBE THEATRE TODAY
- The third Globe, as you see it in London now, was built 25 years ago.
- Sam Wanamaker visited London in 1949 and was surprised to find that there was no more than a plaque commemorating the site of the original Globe.
- The plaque even got some of the details wrong.
- Sam set out to build a reconstruction of the original Globe on Bankside in 1970.
- Sam did not give up on his goal for two decades, despite facing many challenges. He died before the theatre was finished.
- Her Majesty the Queen opened the Globe Theatre in 1997.
- The new Globe Theatre is the most unique and magnificent playhouse in London.
- Bring your coats if you want to attend a performance because it is a roofless, open-air theatre.
- The new Globe Theatre is an icosagon, a 20-sided polygon with 1,570 seats that can accommodate 1,570 people standing and 700 seated.
- The new Globe Theatre was built with timber from 1,000 oak trees from English forests and 6,000 bundles of reeds from Norfolk for the roof.
- On the ceiling of this stage, which is known as βThe Heavens,’ are painted the twelve zodiac signs.
- The new Globe was built with oak beams and lime-plaster walls, as well as a water-reed thatched roof.
- This is the only thatched roof structure in London.
- They had to battle for special permission to have a thatched roof, as there has been a ban on thatched structures in London since the Great Fire of 1666.
- The Globe’s reputation for international performance became important by the Globe to Globe Festival, which in 2012 offered every Shakespeare play, each in a distinct language.
- The Globe Theatre’s production of Shakespeare travels throughout the UK, Europe, North America, and Asia, while their educational efforts are expanding internationally.
The Globe Theatre Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about The Globe Theatre across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about The Globe Theatre in London which has been around for 400 years.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the globe theatre closed down?
The Globe Theatre burnt down in 1613 when a fire started onstage. The fire that destroyed the historic building in England started when a cannon being used as part of a performance of Henry VIII set light to the thatched roof. The fire quickly spread and burned down the building in less than two hours. No one was hurt except for a man whose pants caught on fire. Someone put out the fire with a bottle of beer.
Why is The Globe Theatre famous?
The Globe Theatre was where some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays were performed.
How many times was The Globe Theatre closed?
The Globe Theatre was closed and reopened for multiple reasons, the bubonic plague, and a fire, for example. It had been turned into housing by the Puritans once because they didn’t like the plays performed there. It had all been forgotten and for a long time, only a plaque stood in its place. In 1949 a man named Sam Wanamaker visited London and saw a plaque that was not even accurate. He made it his life’s work to restore the theatre and although he wouldn’t live long enough to see this to completion, two decades later, the Queen held a ceremony to reopen The Globe in 1997.
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Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.