What was London like in Elizabethan times and who were the people attending the theatre?
Shakespeare's London
Shakespeare spent most of his career/working life in London as for example he worked in London theatres. He worked and lived in London from about 1509 to 1613 in places like St Helens,Paris Gardens and Silver Street. At this time London was very big and was growing fast;between 1500 to 1600 it is said that the city grew from around 50,000 residents to 200,000 residents. Therefore London was overcrowded and was described as "dark and narrow" by a visitor.
Even though Shakespeare was born in Stratford, he moved to London to write some of his great plays in the mid 1580's,leaving his children and his wife behind in Stratford.
London was known to be the biggest and richest city in England. It was where the wealthy lived, the royalty and noblemen. Royalty also supported the theatre in london so for instance Shakespeare's company played at the court of King James 15 times per year.
During this time,most Londoners lived in apartment buildings that were squashed together and houses were stacked on top of each other in aim to conserve as much space as possible because London streets were narrow. Housing in Elizabethan times depended on your social class so wealthy Londers built themselves country residences around the edges of London. Also people with a high class would tend to live in the upper floors of their house and they would own a shop in the lower floor.
London Bridge was the only bridge that connected the northern and southern sides of Elizabethan London and it was said that Shakespeare most likely walked across London Bridge several times a week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Kfyr-Wy9o
A few buildings from Elizabethan London are still around nowadays like the Staple Inn,Southwark Cathedral,The Rose Theatre and Shakespeare's .
In Shakespeare's London,theatre wasn't just for plays as Bear Baiting was also popular entertainment in the theatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rguuDDdx78A
In Shakespeare's time, London was quite a small area and wasn't as developed as it is now in London buildings such as the West End didn't exist and Covent Garden back then was just a garden. However in London at that time it was very busy just like it is now. It was a very diverse population with lots of immigrants,different social classes living closely together. It is said that Shakespeare moving to London really inspired him in terms of his plays because his plays carried the energy that London had at that time and was the centre of political power.
Elizabethan Audiences
- Royalty - Queen Elizabeth I loved watching plays but theses were generally performed in indoor playhouses for her pleasure. She would not have attended the plays performed at the amphitheatres
- The Nobles - Nobles would have paid for the better seats in the Lord's rooms paying 5d for the privilege
- The Commoners called the Groundlings or Stinkards would have stood in the theatre pit and paid 1d entrance fee. They put 1 penny in a box at the theatre entrance - hence the term 'Box Office'
- The Box Office - the prices were determined by the comfort of the seats
The class system in Elizabethan England comes a lot into Elizabethan audiences as the experience an Elizabethan audience member got from the theatre depended on their class. For instance the rich and middle class people like the noblemen could take a seat to watch a piece of theatre because they were the only ones who could actually afford paying for a seat. This means they had a perfect view of the stage and also were provided with cushions for comfort whilst watching the play. On the other hand,the common people like the peasants and labourers would be forced to watch the play by standing in the pit for the entire play because there was clearly no hope that they could afford to pay for a seat!
https://www.usi.edu/media/2416960/bowles.pdf
In Elizabethan England,people assumed that in theatres it was very much how it is today,quiet and people being attentive but it wasn't, Elizabethan audiences were loud,noisy and chaotic. They were more directly involved in the shows for example it would be allowed to directly respond back to an actor who performed a soliloquy to the . The audience would clap for the hero in the play and boo for the villain and they might even have a dance along with the characters onstage in a comedy. If the audience didn't like a play they may throw furniture and damage the theatre!
http://www.seattleshakespeare.org/who-were-these-people/
No comments:
Post a Comment