English Renaissance Theater
What was theater like in the Elizabethan
and Jacobean periods? How was it different than today? What theaters did Shakespeare
use? Why were theaters designed the way they were? Where were they located and
why?
Essay: Andrew Gurr, “Shakespeare’s Playhouses” in Kastan,
David Scott ed. A Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
1999, 362-76
The Physical Theater
This page provides links and images to help give you a sense of what the theater was like during Shakespeare's life.
This image is taken from: C. Walter Hodges, The Globe Restored. Brighton, MI: Native American Books, 1989. |
This is a full view of the city of London with the locations of the theaters marked along with their dates of construction. Image taken from Andrew Gurr, Playgoing in Shakespeare's London.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. |
 |
This is a modern sketch of an Inn Yard stage. It would have been a temporary stage. The first permanent stage was not built in London until 1576. Examples of Inn Yard theaters on the map above include the Red Bull, The Cross Keys, The Bel Savage and The Red Lion. This image and the three below are taken from: C. Walter Hodges, The Globe Restored. Brighton, MI: Native American Books, 1989. |
Below are a series of
three modern sketches of the most familiar type of Elizabethan theater, an outdoor
amphitheater. Shakespeare's Globe was an amphitheater.
These images are taken from
C. Walter Hodges, The Globe
Restored. Brighton, MI: Native American Books, 1989.
 |
 |
Below is a diagram of an indoor, hall theater.
This is a
view of the south bank of the Thames River, technically outside the jurisdiction
of the city of London. Known as Bankside, it was the location of many
not-quite-legal businesses, such as prostitution, bear-baiting and the
theater. The Globe can be seen at the bottom center.