WEEK 4 - Playhouses and Actors

QUESTION: What were the theatres or ‘playhouses’ of Shakespeare’s time like and how were plays staged in them?

In Shakespeare’s time there were outdoor playhouses and indoor playhouses. They were both very different and so they attracted different audiences. The first playhouse was built in 1567 by John Brayne and many more playhouses opened between the 1570s and the 1620s. Therefore the public must have enjoyed going to them, as it was a major form of entertainment.

Many of the playhouses were built outside of the city walls and therefore south of the Thames. They did this in order to avoid interference by the officials who ran the City of London. This is because they thought that the playhouses were noisy and disruptive and that criminals were attracted towards them. The south bank was outside of the city walls and there were already many forms of entertainment available here, for example bear baiting arenas. There were also brothels and taverns (which inspired Shakespeare when creating the character of Falstaff), in which people could buy food and drink, therefore people often travelled to the South Bank for entertainment.

                                               

  A picture of the Rose Theatre playhouse

All outdoor playhouses had:

• a central yard that was open to the sky;

• a raised stage sticking out into the yard;

• a roof over the stage, which was called ‘the heavens’, although the first Rose theatre (1587-92) may not have had one;

• a tiring house behind the stage with a backstage area, where actors dressed and waited to come on. Above this were lords’ rooms, rooms for storage, and a room level with ‘the heavens’ to work the special effects from;

• galleried seating all around the yard, on several levels, which was roofed.

Most playhouses had a brick base with timber-framed walls. The gaps between the timbers were filled with sticks, hair and plaster. The roofs were made from

thatch or tile.

(information taken from http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2015/04/playhouses.pdf)

Businessmen often sponsored and supported the building of the playhouses. They did this because they realised the increase of the popularity of playhouses and of the touring acting companies. These businessmen often had a lot of money and so this would be a very good investment, which could help them to increase their overall wealth. What the businessmen did was they bought some land and built a playhouse on top of it, and then rented it out to acting companies for a number of years. The company then paid the businessman half of the takings.

QUESTION: Who were the actors of Shakespeare’s plays and how did the experience of being an actor differ from the experience today?

In Shakespeare's times actors usually started off their careers as young boys. They often chose to join a company as an apprentice in which they would not be paid but would learn the craft and be taught by more experienced actors within a theatre company. In Shakespearean times actors needed to be able to sing and dance, be able to move around physically and sword fight et cetera as well as being able to remember their lines well.

Elsewhere in Europe many women would act on stage, however in Shakespearean England this would never happen. Therefore acting was a profession, which was only available to boys and men. Women were not able to perform in public theatres in England until 1660. Therefore in Shakespearean times young boys, whose voices had not yet broken, would play the female roles instead of women and occasionally men would play the parts of the older women.

During Shakespeare's lifetime what an actor went through on a daily basis changed drastically. When Shakespeare was young actors toured with theatre companies. This involved travelling around the country to perform in different cities, towns and in private venues for example Inns and the homes of rich people. However, towards the end of Shakespeare's life there were many different permanent theatres in London in which actors could perform regularly, which would draw in much larger audiences than before.

However, even though theatres were a very popular pass time, actors were not thought of very highly and they had quite a bad reputation. They were seen as reckless, disorderly people who put the dream of having a peaceful society at risk.

Shakespeare started out his career as an actor. Some people say that he played the part of the Ghost in Hamlet.

Most theatre companies had a shareholder system in operation. The shareholders of the company earned more than the actors and the hired men. Shakespeare was a shareholder of the King's Men, and the Chamberlain's Men, which meant that he shared both the expenses and the profits. How much the actors made would also depend on the location in which the show was playing. For example, a theatre company would make more money in London than in the country and so they could pay the actors higher wages. And example of this was that in 1597 the actor William Kendall was paid 10 shillings a week in London but only five shillings in the country.

Usually actors would perform in the afternoon, this was because they needed natural light in order to be seen and if they performed too early, it would be too bright and if they performed too late, it would be too dark. Therefore, generally actors would spend the morning rehearsing and then perform in the afternoon, and so they did not have much time for rehearsals. They would have to be used to learning several different scripts at one time.

The most famous Elizabethan actors were; Richard Burbage, Edward Alleyn, Robert Armin William Kemp and Nathan Field. Obviously there were many more actors than this but these were some of the most famous ones.

A self-portrait of Richard Burbage

There were only a few copies of each play and so the actor would only have their own part to learn. They were given a script with their cues and their lines.

Certain actors were known to specialise. These actors would often have parts written especially with them in mind. An example of this was that William Shakespeare wrote the part of Dogberry, especially for William Kemp because of the fact that he was very good at physical comedy.

A drawing of William Kemp

Therefore, as you can see, the life of an actor in Shakespearean times was extremely different from the life of an actor nowadays. Firstly, they were not seen as a celebrity and instead they were frowned upon. Secondly, an actor would have to learn several parts at one time and they wouldn't get a long time to rehearse, lastly they would not be able to read the whole script and so they would probably not  have known what the play was about and they would only be able to react at the time to their cue. I would conclude that the life of an actor nowadays is probably a lot more enjoyable than the life of an actor in Shakespearean times.