SHAKESPEAREAN THEATRE

Shakespeare's plays were written primarily for the stage to be acted, not to be printed; not for
the book-seller. The plays of the Greek tragedians were written to be represented in vast
open-air theatres; those of Moliere for the small closed 'tennis-court' theatre of seventeenth-
century France, Ibsen's for the modern 'picture-frame' stage. Shakespeare wrote for the
Elizabethan theatres. These theatres differed in important respects from those in which we see
his plays acted today. Many characteristics of his dramas are to be understood only when they
are studied. He knew all the limitations and advantages of his theatre.

Before the age of Elizabeth, there was no fixed stage. There were strolling theatrical
companies that carried their simple and crude stage from place to place. The stage was just a
kind of open tent with two side doors, one serving for 'entrance' and the other for 'exit'. There
was a small door between the two, serving the purpose of the inner stage.

When Shakespeare reached London, there were different kinds of theatres. They were:

a) Public Theatres

b) Private Theatres

c) Halls of Royal Palaces

d) Inns of Court

Public Theatres

There were three public theatres: The Curtain, The Theatre, and The Newington Butts. The
Rose theatre was added in 1587. The theatres were either circular or octagonal with a raised
dais in the center. They were open above, and performances took place in broad daylight.
Shakespeare's plays were performed in all these theatres. A few of his plays were performed
in Royal Palaces. In 1599, the Globe Theatre was constructed, and Shakespeare was a partner
in it. It was the most typical playhouse of the Elizabethan age.

It was circular in structure. The inside yard was open to the sky, surrounded by three tiers of
galleries overlooking the main stage in the center. There was a circular area around the stage
called the 'pit'. There were no seats in the pit, and the poor spectators, called 'groundlings',
were kept standing or seated on the floor throughout the performance. Seats were arranged in
the three galleries, one over the other. More fashionable and respectable spectators sat on the
seats there. The uppermost gallery was covered with a thatched roof. The ticket varied from
pit to gallery.

The stage proper was technically called the 'apron stage'. There was an outstretched
rectangular platform, and the groundlings stood on three sides of it. There were thatched roof
and hangings above it. There were no side or front curtains. There was a hidden trap-door in
the floor, used for ascending or descending of ghosts or witches. On either side at the back of
the stage, there were two doors. The characters appeared or disappeared through them.
Between the doors, there was a small recess behind a thin curtain, a kind of inner stage. It
represented, for example, the bed chamber of Desdemona, the cell of Prospero, the cave of
King Lear, or the tomb of Juliet, etc. There was the upper stage over the recess, technically
called 'the heavens'. It was used as the balcony of Juliet's bed chamber. A curtain hung from
the balcony conceals or discloses the recess below. There were no scenic arrangements; the
stage had properties but no scenery. A human head, a grave, a lion, an artificial moon, a bush,
or a flower plant were a few of the stage properties. The Elizabethan costumes were rich,
flashy, and expensive. Costumes were a means of indicating rank and office. The parts of
female characters were performed by boys, appearing on the stage in flashy female costumes.
Most of Shakespeare's heroines in his comedies disguised as men. Shakespeare avoided very
intimate or passionate scenes of love. The drop curtain was unknown to them. Therefore, at
the end of each scene, the actors had either to walk away or were carried off the stage,
leaving the stage empty. The stage is usually cleared at the close of each scene. Another
method of indicating the close of a Shakespearean scene was the use of a rhyming couplet at
the end. The lack of scenic effects was made good by the poet with gorgeous descriptions and
graphic effects of poetry. The wonderful poetry of Shakespeare caused him to make up for
the deficiency of scenery with his wonderful descriptions of landscapes, castles, etc. The
orchestra was comprised of several trumpets, coronets, and wooden flutes. The stage was
scattered with rushes. On extraordinary occasions, it was matted. A board was hung up
containing the name of the place where the action took place.

At the conclusion of each performance, the actor knelt on the stage and offered a prayer for
the Queen.

SHAKESPEAREAN AUDIENCE

In order to enter into the spirit of Shakespeare's dramatic art, it is essential to understand the
nature and characteristics of the audience for which Shakespeare wrote his dramas. The
Elizabethan audience was of a most heterogeneous kind. We may characterize them as
'vulgar' and 'refined'. All sorts of vulgar and uncultured people like sailors, soldiers, thieves,
pickpockets, cheats, and immoral men and women belonged to the vulgar class. Educated
men and women, respectable business men and public officers, critics and scholars, and
members of royal families belonged to the refined class. Shakespeare had to cater to the
needs of both classes.

In public theatres, the bulk of the audience belonged to the vulgar class. They generally stood
in the pit around the stage, being the most noisy persons and terrorizing the actors.
Refreshment sellers moved about among them, supplying sausages, apples, and nuts. They
ate and drank, smoked tobacco, and fought with each other. When they were out of humor,
they even threw fragments of food and even stones at the actors. At times, performances had
to be interrupted, and the theatre closed. When the evil smells became intolerable, juniper
berries were burnt for refreshing the atmosphere.

The refined class sat on chairs close to the stage or even on the stage itself. There were
special boxes for very high officials and public men. Usually, ladies came with silken masks
drawn over their faces, and very fashionable ladies occupied the first row. Highly respectable
ladies did not visit public theatres. There were private theatres that catered to the demands of
such people. Generally, the Elizabethan audience revelled in boisterous scenes of murders,
bloodshed, vengeance, oppressions, and atrocities. They patronized melodramatic plays. The
ingratitude of Macbeth, the frailty of Macbeth's mother, the suspicious nature of Othello, the
inhumanity of Regan and Goneril, and so many scenes of murders, bloodsheds, and battles
were not repulsive to most of the Elizabethan audience. They highly appreciated Marlowe's
'Tamburlaine', which is nothing but a long succession of inhuman murders and battles.
Theatres were not merely places of amusement and entertainment but also of social gathering,
serving the purpose of newspapers, magazines, and journals.