8-5TheGlobe

Henry

27. WHAT IS THE GLOBE THEATER? WHAT IS ITS HISTORY AND LEGACY?

The Globe Theater is the theater that Shakespeare and his company preformed their most famous plays out of. According to william-shakespeare-globe-theatre from the Shakespeare College, the theater is in Bankside in Southwark, London and was one of the four major theaters in that area. It was about 100 feet in diameter. The stage was 43 feet wide and 23 feet deep. It could hold up to 3,000 spectators. It was accoutered with special equipment. Rigging and trap doors were used for different stage effects. The Globe Theater would have been very exiting to go to. On a performance day the area around the globe would have been bustling. Stalls and shops would be up and open, people would be moving around trying to enter into the theater and best of all people would be filled with excitement.

The Globe's history is very interesting. There were two theaters. The original Globe was built by James Burbage. It fought over for many years. The Company's lease on the theater's land ran out and the owner of that land (Giles Allen) wanted to tare it down and sell the materials. But the company bought the land for £600 saving the theater. The original theater burned down when a cannon shot was ignited during the play //__Henry VIII__//. A new Globe was built before Shakespeare's death and it ran until 1642 when the Puritans closed it down. They raised it two years later. The Globe's legacy remains in the hearts of all theater goers. It was the place that Shakespeare presented his most famous (and some say best) works. The foundations of the Globe were rediscovered in 1989. With the desire to recreate the theater, in 1993 Sam Wanamaker led workers to rebuild the theater. They tried to make it as close to a replica of an Elizabethan theater as possible. The new globe can hold about 1,500 people and it is called the Shakespearean globe. The theater put on plays to this day and attracts thousands of people.