First Shakespearean Performance at the Globe Theater
The Globe Theater in London, known for its association with William Shakespeare, hosted its first performance on September 21, 1599, featuring the play "Julius Caesar." This iconic venue, constructed in 1598, was designed to accommodate around 3,000 spectators, with a unique arrangement where the "groundlings" stood close to the stage, while wealthier attendees enjoyed seats in covered galleries. The theater's stage was notable for its size and special features, including trapdoors for dramatic entrances and exits. Unfortunately, the original Globe was short-lived; it burned down in 1613 during a performance of "Henry VIII" due to a cannon firing that ignited the thatched roof. Although it was rebuilt with a safer design, Shakespeare retired shortly after and passed away in 1616. The original theater was ultimately demolished in the 1640s. In the late 20th century, efforts led by American actor Sam Wannamaker resulted in the reconstruction of the Globe, which opened in 1997, allowing audiences to once again experience Shakespearean performances in a setting reminiscent of the Elizabethan era.
First Shakespearean Performance at the Globe Theater
First Shakespearean Performance at the Globe Theater
The Globe Theater in London, England, hosted the first of many performances of dramas by the legendary playwright William Shakespeare on September 21, 1599. On that evening Julius Caesar was the featured play. A visitor from Switzerland named Thomas Platter described the performance, including the fact that “the actors are most expensively and elaborately costumed.”
The Globe had been built only the previous year, and this may have been the first play staged at the theater, which could seat 3,000 spectators. The “groundlings,” who stood during the performance, surrounded the stage on three sides, while wealthier patrons sat along the inside walls in the three galleries, which provided protection from the elements. The stage was 43 feet wide and 27 feet deep, with trapdoors above and below it for the entrances and exits of gods, spirits, and other unusual phenomena.
Unfortunately, the original Globe was built with a thatched roof, and on June 29, 1613, it burned down during the first performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII, when the highly flammable roof caught fire after a cannon was set off during the play. The theater was rebuilt shortly thereafter, this time with a safer tile roof, but Shakespeare had decided to retire and died just a few years later at his home in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1616.
The Globe itself was closed down and destroyed by religious zealots in the 1640s, at which time tenements were built on the site. In the late 20th century, the American actor and director Sam Wannamaker founded the Globe Playhouse Trust to rebuild the Globe, and ground was broken in 1987 approximately 200 yards from the site of the original theater. Wannamaker, who died in December 1993, would not live to see the project's completion and the innaugural season of the new Globe Theater in 1997.