The Globe Theatre in London was built in 1599 and was the venue where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed, including his major tragedies. It was constructed by Shakespeare's business associate Cuthbert Burbage for the acting company to which Shakespeare belonged. The Globe was an open-air, three-story, circular structure with different seating areas for different classes of patrons. It lacked modern amenities like electricity, so performances were held during the day. The original Globe burned down in 1613 but was rebuilt, remaining open until 1642 when the Puritans closed it.

1. A Theater in the Round…
The Globe

2.  Although Shakespeare's plays were
performed at other venues during the
playwright's career, the Globe Theatre in the
Southwark district of London was the venue
at which the Bard's best known stage works
(including his four great tragedies) were first
produced.

3.  The Globe was built during
Shakespeare's early period in 1599 by
one of his long-standing associates,
Cuthbert Burbage, the brother of the
most famous Shakespearean actor of
the Elizabethan Age, Richard Burbage.

4. The Chamberlain's Company formed
in 1594, actually built the Globe
Theater. At the time, it was one of
only two licensed acting companies in
London.
Among the eight actors in the group
were Shakespeare and Richard
Burbage. Of the eight, only six
donated the funds used to build the
theater.

5.  The Chamberlain's Company later changed its
name to the King's Company when James I took
over the English throne.
 The Globe was the most important structure to
Shakespeare's drama because most of his plays
were written to be performed on the stage of the
Globe.
 Romeo and Juliet was not one of them.

6. The Globe was obviously round in
shape, containing 20 sides and
three stories.
Because the theater had no
electricity, all performances were
during the day to allow the sun to
light the open air theater.

7. The flag on the top of the theater was
raised on performance days, and the
color of the flag was significant.
Red = history
White = Comedy
Black = Tragedy

8. The Globe enclosed an open
courtyard, which theater-goers called
“The Pit.”
The patrons who sat here were
fittingly called “The Groundlings.”
More expensive seats, covered with a
thatched roof, were called The
Galleries.

9.  The action took place on the main
stage, which contained a trap door
used for ghosts, demons, or even a
grave in the famous scene from
Hamlet.
 The back of the stage was called the
inner stage, used mostly for indoor
scenes. There was an “inner below”
and an “inner above.”

10. In Shakespeare’s times no
women were allowed to act,
which is probably why there are
more men’s parts than women’s
in his plays.
The productions did not have
scenery and had very few props.

11. The Globe Theater
1 FLAG
2 HEAVENS
3 HUT
4 INNER ABOVE
5 GALLERIES
6 MAIN STAGE
7 INNER BELOW
8 THE PIT
9 COLUMN
10 TRAP DOOR
11 ENTRANCE
12 FOUNDATION

12. Tragically, the original Globe
burned down in 1613 due to a
cannon shot used as a prop during
a performance of Henry VIII.
It was soon rebuilt, though, and
remained open on its original
foundations until the Puritans
closed it in 1642 and the Globe II
was torn down two years later to
make room for housing.

13. An Early 17th Century drawing of the
Globe in the time of Shakespeare

14. 1647 Illustration by Wenceslaus
Hollar

15. The foundation remained buried until
the mid-twentieth century.
In 1949, an American actor named
Sam Wanamaker realized the Globe
no longer existed. He made it his life’s
work to bring the Globe back to life.

16. As it appears today…