They had played at the Theatre, built by the Burbage family on land leased from a Mr Allen. In , Allen refused to renew the lease. However the Burbages owned the Theatre because the lease said they owned anything built on the land.
They took it down while Allen was away over Christmas. Their builder stored it in his yard on the north bank of the Thames.
The Burbages could not afford to lease a new theatre site. With this money they leased land on the south bank of the River Thames, near the Rose theatre. The builder who stored the timbers of the Theatre was Peter Streete.
Once the weather was better Streete took the timber across the Thames, to Southwark, and used them to build the Globe theatre. Southwark was a good place for the new theatre. It was outside the control of the city officials who were hostile to theatres. People already went there to be entertained. It had two theatres the Rose and the Swan , animal baiting arenas, taverns and brothels.
Streete and his workmen built a brick base for the theatre. The structure was similar to that of their old theatre, as well as that of the neighbouring bear garden. The rectangular stage, at five feet high, projected halfway into the yard and the circular galleries. The pillars were painted to look like Italian marble, the sky painted midnight blue, and images of the gods overlooked the balcony. It could hold up to 3, people. By May , the new theatre was ready to be opened. Burbage named it the Globe after the figure of Hercules carrying the globe on his back - for in like manner the actors carried the Globe's framework on their backs across the Thames.
A flag of Hercules with the globe was raised above the theatre with the Latin motto 'totus mundus agit histrionem', or 'all the world's a playhouse'.
During the fateful performance of Henry VIII on 29 June , the cannon announcing the unexpected arrival of the king at the end of Act 1 set fire to the thatched roof, and within an hour the Globe burned to the ground. Everyone escaped safely, save for one man whose breeches reportedly caught fire.
Two different songs had been written about it by the next day. The same is true today, with winter performances taking play in the adjoining Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
They are free with a London Pass. It makes sense that he would. Firstly, as a tribute to a place that was so important to him. Different flags were used to signpost what kind of play was being performed that day. Flying high above the theatre, they were a good way of advertising the genre of the performance, or notifying prospective theatre-goers of a last-minute cancellation. This was true of many Elizabethan theatres. Black flags were raised for tragedy plays.
Red ones announced history plays. Comedies were signalled by the flying of white flags. It was a question of flags. Of course! Many Elizabethan playhouses were. The tiered seating areas ring around the stage. In the past, they could hold up to spectators, but now spectators get a little more wiggle room for when legs start twitching around Act Four. These were the cheaper than cheap seats. But you could watch plays from the pit for just a penny.
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