8-2OtherTheatres

====OTHER THAN THE GLOBE THEATRE, WHAT THEATRES DID SHAKESPEARE WRITE FOR, PERFORM IN, OR OWN? WHAT ARE THESE THEATRES’ HISTORIES AND LEGACIES? ==== //Prepared by Fady.// William Shakespeare was affiliated with many theaters. He wrote theatrical productions and owned or acted in some of them.

The first one is called The Curtain. The Curtain is located in Finsbury Fields, Shoreditch. This theater was the second to be built in England. Shakespeare performed at The Curtain for a couple of years until his new theater, The Globe, was being built. One of his previous theaters had caught fire and burnt down. Established in 1577, The Globe was used through 1622. Some believe that the building was still standing until the mid 1660's.

The next theater used by Shakespeare is the Newington Butts Theater. This theater is located in Southwark. According to William-Shakespeare.info very is little known about this amphi-theater. Many people believe that it was in use from the 1580s. The theater was built on land that was once used for target practice. The need for the target practicing was quickly put away when the cannon was invented. In June of 1592, the Privy council closed all the theaters because of a riot.

The Rose was another theater built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe. He believed that opening a play house in this neighborhood, would help bring more people across the Thames River. 1592 was maybe the Rose’s best year. In it, they gained their popularity and held many performances. In 1603 it was closed due to the famine that was going on around Europe. The land lease expired two years later. The owner of the theater wanted to sign the contract with the same agreements but the land owner wanted to increase the rent because the theater was accumulating a lot of money.

The Blackfriars theater was built on an old 13th century Dominican monastery’s land that had been shut down by King Henry. The land was divided up into parts and sold to different political parties. This theater served as a meeting place for Parliaments and other important groups. The Blackfriars was considered one of the more technologically advanced theaters because it had artificial lighting and other special effects. The English civil war had caused this highly advanced theater, at that time, to close. In 1655 it was demolished after it had spent 13 years in disrepair.

The Swan was built in 1594 by a Francis Langley. This theater was just south of the Thames river. In 1597 the Swan had caused the government to close all the theaters because of health concerns. The Swan is one of the few theaters that archaeologists were positive about. In the early 1630s the Swan was declared to have “fallen to decay.” Continuously, the Swan presents amazing performances. “The Swan Theatre for it accommodates in its seats 3,000 persons, and is built of a mass of flint stones. . . and supported by wooden columns painted in such excellent imitation of marble that it is able to deceive even the most cunning,” from Matinee at the Swan by Charles Wisner Barell

The Globe Theater has created jobs for the citizens of London other than the actors and actresses for the plays. The vast majority of the population lived on the other side of the Thames river. Many people would ferry the playgoers across the river to go and see the plays. If the playgoers didn’t want to pay water taxis they would have to cross the only bridge that spanned the width of the river. Cuthbert Burbage built this playhouse with his brother. According to DK Readers the father of the Burbages was a traveling actor. In 1597 the land lease had expired and the owners were told to pay a fortune to renew the lease or lose a very popular theater. In December of the following year the theater was taken down and moved across the frozen Thames river to a new site that they had leased for 31 years. The new position of The Globe made it so successful that Shakespeare invested his profits back home like his father. Works Cited Barrell, Charles Wisner. Documentary Notes On The Swan Theatre. 1994. Print.

Chrisp, peter. Welcome to the Globe. 1st. New York: DK publishing, 2000. Print.

Mabillard, Amanda. "Shakespeare's Theatres." Shakespeare online. 18 Jan 2008. 10 Mar 2009 .

Mabillard, Amanda. "Shakespeare's Theatres: The Rose." Shakespeare online. 18 DEC 2006. 12 Mar 2009 .

Mabillard, Amanda. "The Swan." Shakespeare online. 12/18/2006. 14 Apr 2009 .

"The Curtain Theatre and picture." William Shakespeare. 2005. 10 Mar 2009 .

"The Newington Butts Amphi-theatre ." William Shakespeare info. 2005 . 14 Apr 2009 .