8-4Audience

Who were the theatre goers during Elizabethan England? //Answer Prepared by Maddy Ecker// According to the websites __Elizabethan Era__ and __Globe Theatre__, the webpage “The Old Globe Theater History", and the books __Shakespeare for All Time__ by Stanley Wells and __Shakespeare: Script, Stage, and Screen__ by Bevington, Welsh, and Greenwald the theatre attracted people of all classes in Elizabethan England. They all loved the theatre because not only did it provide entertainment but it was also a chance for people to get out and see their friends. Theatres normally held about one thousand five hundred people but many people would view the play from the outside of the theatre too. The number of people watching a play could get to three thousand. Theatres were extremely popular and the audience numbers would only drop when there was a plague. Unfortunately, plagues happened more often than people would have been liked. Plague outbreaks left actors jobless for a while and they tended to leave London during that time. It is believed that Shakespeare used these times to write more plays. Once the fear of spreading disease died down the theatre would once again be full.

Although everyone loved the theatre each class tended to have a different experience there. Queen Elizabeth the First loved plays but she did not go to see them. She instead had them come to her. This way she did not have to worry about crowds and noisy people. Instead she had her own private versions of the plays put on for her. Nobles would go to the theatre but they would never dream of standing with the commoners. Instead they would pay five times more than the commoners for the Lords Room. Although these seats were considered to be the best in the house they had the worst viewing. They would only see the actors’ backs and it was hard to see the stage. The reason that they were considered to be so wonderful though is because the seats were very close to the stage and there was better hearing. The nobles were more likely to appreciate the language of the plays than others and so they paid the high price for the Lords Rooms. The other reason that the nobles wanted to sit in the Lords Rooms is because they did not want to be associated with the lower classes. Also, they did not want to catch diseases from the commoners. The final reason is because the nobles enjoyed showing off their fancy and fashionable clothes. Due to the Sumptuary Laws, laws that prohibited you from wearing certain things depending on your class, the commoners were not allowed to wear the latest fashions. The only time the commoners got to see high fashion was when nobles or Royalty was near. The gentry would normally pay to sit in the galleries using cushions for comfort. Most commoners on the other hand paid a low price to stand in the theatre pit to watch the performance.

Elizabethan England had two different types of theaters; public and private, and these attracted different crowds. The public theatres drew a more diverse crowd because of cheaper entrances fees. Private theatres were for more educated people or an exclusive corporate client. Sometimes they would perform in courts for which they were paid significant sums of money and received prestige and influence. In these performances they tended to use more complicated language because the audience would be able to understand and value it. Queen Elizabeth was an exclusive client of Shakespeare and his men and she much enjoyed a good play. All of Elizabethan England took pleasure in the works of the theatre but only some could afford the better viewings. Works Cited "Elizabethan England." __Elizabethan Era__. 4 Apr 2009 <[|http://www.elizabethan-] era.org.uk/elizabethan-england.htm>.

"Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." __Elizabethan Era__. 10 Mar 2009 <[]>.

"Globe Theatre Lords Rooms." __Globe Theatre__. 10 Mar 2009 <[|http://www.globe-] theatre.org.uk/globe-theatre-lords-rooms.htm >.

"The Old Globe Theater History." 10 Mar 2009. <[|http://www.william-]shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-globe-theatre.htm>.

Wells, Stanley. __Shakespeare for All Time__. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2003.