Interesting information about
the Elizabethan Amphitheatre during the life and times of
William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre
Elizabethan Amphitheatre
James Burbage built the first
Elizabethan amphitheatre in 1576 following the huge success of
the plays performed in the
Elizabethan Inn yards. The 'Theatre' was built in a
similar style to a Roman arena, or amphitheatre, but on a smaller scale. James Burbage was keen to cash in on the
profits made by the plays being performed in Elizabethan
Inn yards. The biggest of the Inn-yards had a maximum capacity
of 500 people the Elizabethan amphitheatre was designed to
hold a capacity of up to 3000 people! Similar amphitheatres
were built to house blood sports, such as bear beating
at the 'Bear Garden' and Bull Beating at the 'Bull Ring'.
These massive places of entertainment would have proved
daunting prospects for their builders. The plans of James
Burbage and his idea of constructing an amphitheatre were
highly ambitious. He had his skills of a carpenter to help him
but expert help was clearly required. He knew just the man -
Dr. John Dee!
Building an Elizabethan
Amphitheatre - Speed was the essence! Building the Elizabethan Amphitheatres
was all about profit. The design of the London Elizabethan Amphitheatres, was guaranteed
to house as many playgoers as was possible in a cheap, but impressive,
looking building. Elizabethan amphitheatres were built with timber, stone (flint) and plaster.
An Elizabethan amphitheatre only took about six months to build! The profit
margin of the fixed venue theatres of Elizabethan amphitheatres increased more than five-fold with
the greater audience capacities. Profit also increased as the acting troupes
no longer had to spend their time travelling, erecting and dismantling
stages and all of the associated expenses which would have been incurred
with the inn-yards and paying the inn-keepers. Elizabethan amphitheatres
made good business sense.
The Elizabethan Amphitheatre -
'Legitimising' the Elizabethan Theatre James Burbage wanted to
enhance the tarnished reputation of the Elizabethan theatre and its
actors. Dr. John Dee clearly helped him to achieve this goal. Building The
Theatre in the style of the ancient amphitheatre provided the opportunity
to draw strong comparisons with the classical Greek theatre thus
providing a means to 'legitimise' the Elizabethan theatre! The Roman
Amphitheatre design was therefore perceived as an excellent idea. Not only
did this make perfect financial sense but it also linked the Elizabethan
theatre of the Renaissance period with the much admired classical theatre
and literature of the Greeks and Romans. The Elizabethan playwrights, such
as Christopher Marlowe, continued this theme by producing Tragedies and
Comedies of a similar genre. William Shakespeare himself drew on the
history of the ancients in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. The
huge popularity of the Roman Amphitheatre was about to be repeated many
hundreds of years later in Renaissance England!
The Classical Connections with
the Elizabethan Amphitheatre The classical theme of the
Elizabethan amphitheatre continued and various sections within the
interior of the amphitheatres were labelled with Latin names taken from
the Roman theatre:
The ' Herculean
' pillars, strongly featured in the interiors designs of the
Elizabethan amphitheatres, were painted so that they
appeared to be made of marble
The Elizabethan
stage wall was called the Frons Scenae and decorated with
classical Greek and Roman images
So the innovative theatrical
entrepreneurs who built the Elizabethan amphitheatres used classical Greek
and Roman history to create a clever and specific image for their
theatres.
Elizabethan Amphitheatre in
London The Elizabethan
amphitheatre which entertained the people in London
included The Theatre, Newington Butts, the Curtain, the Rose, the Swan,
the Fortune, The Boars Head, the Red Bull, the Bear Garden, the Bull Ring,
the Hope and, of course the Globe Theatre.
An Elizabethan Amphitheatre
Elizabethan Amphitheatre
The history of the Elizabethan Amphitheatre
clearly started with the construction of The Theatre in 1576 by the
Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur James Burbage. Additional details, facts and information about the Elizabethan Theatre can be accessed via the
Globe Theatre Sitemap.
Elizabethan
Inn yards
Interesting
Facts and information about the Elizabethan Amphitheatre
The massive Elizabethan Amphitheatre
What did an
Elizabethan amphitheatre
look like?
Picture of the
Elizabethan Swan Amphitheatre by Johannes de Witt
