Shakespeare's Background
...f the play displeased them! „X The forepart of the stage at The Globe came thrusting into the yard, with the audience standing on three sides. At the back of the stage there is a curtained alcove called the "tiring house" (what we would call the dressing room), and on either side of the tiring house there are the doors through which the actors make their entrances and exits. „X Above the tiring house is the gallery for the musicians and for the rich. This gallery was also used by the actors to present scenes in the play, for example the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. „X Above the balcony is the hut¡Xlike a tiny house popping its head over the walls of the theatre. Here is kept the suspension equipment used for flying effects, and here the flag is hoisted to announce the performance. (If the flag was not flying, it meant that the performance had been cancelled due to bad weather). „X It was a very adaptable stage; the actors could perform on the forepart of the stage, or under the canopy between the pillars, or in the alcove, or from the balcony. They could even come up through a trapdoor in the centre of the stage. „X The Globe Theatre could hold 3000 people, many of them standing all the time¡Xremember Shakespeare's plays could last up to three hours. Sometimes the speeches were too long and the language was too difficult and the audience became restless. They did not listen in hushed silence, they talked during the performance; some people were always coming and going¡Xit was very informal. The audience could buy refreshments as the play continued¡Xsausages, oranges, apples, a pot of ale. „X During the plague years the theatres in London closed and the acting companies ...