Elizabethan England Theatre

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Elizabethan England Theatre a.) What theatres were like in Elizabethan England: There were many parts to an Elizabethan theatre, there was the roof; most of the theatre was open to the sky as the sun was the only lighting they had, due to this most plays were performed in the afternoon. There were 3 galleries of covered seats around the yard, these seated around 2000 people; these seats were for the wealthy who paid an extra fee to sit down. The most important area of the theatre was the stage was raised and it projected into the yard, there was very little scenery and no curtains across the front. Only the back of the stage was roofed; the ceiling was usually pained with pictures of the heavens. The yard, also known as ‘the pit’, was where poor people or ‘groundings’ stood in the yard to watch the plays. They were close to actors and could be very noisy; the yard was open to the sky so when it rained they would get wet. There was a trumpeter who blew several times so the locals would know that a play was about to start. A flag was flown from the top of the theatre to signal a play was being shown that day. The heavens were a building above the stage, it contained a hoisting machine that lowered props down to the stage and raised them up, and also special effects such as lighting and thunder were produced there. The musicians and actors for special scenes used the balcony. Finally the tiring house was the actors dressing room, it was located behind the stage. Most theatres in Elizabethan England were designed this way with little variety. b.) Why people went to the theatre: The main reason people went to the theatre was obvious: to see plays. Entry fees were very cheap meaning everyone could go. People from all levels of society attended plays, albeit on separate levels in the theatre. There were more things at the theatre other than

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