WEEK 3 - SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON AND ELIZABETHAN AUDIENCES
QUESTION: What was London like in Elizabethan times and who were the people attending the theatre?
You can start by reading the ‘London’ and ‘Audiences’ factsheets on the Globe website.


In the Elizabethan times London was the richest city in England and was home to multiple permanent playhouses. Many wealthy traders and manufacturers and their workers lived there. These were the kinds of people who had the money to go to the theatre. By 1600, more than 20,000 people a week went to these theatre's. London was the home to royalty and many noble families and many noblemen became patrons of the theatre's, They gave financial and legal support to these theatre's. From 1603 to 1613, Shakespeare’s company played at the court of King James about 15 times per year. London was also growing extremely fast due to migrants from the countryside and from Europe. It is estimated that between 1550 and 1600, the city grew from 50,000 residents to 200,000. Every available space was being built and suburbs were also slowly being built creeping out into the countryside. However, the dark streets attracted thieves and the overcrowding attracted unknown diseases. The plague struck most summers and in 1593 it is estimated 10,000 people were killed because of it and all the theatre's were closed.

Just about everyone in London society went to the theatre, generally more men than women. Sometimes even servants and apprentices spent their time at the theatre. In 1607, the Venetian ambassador bought all of the most expensive seats for a performance of Shakespeare's Pericles. Royalty didn't go the theatre however, they had private performances summoned to their courts. In open air theatres, a groundling ticket (on the floor standing) cost £1 (there were 240 pennies in £1) and for another penny you could have a bench seat in the lower galleries which surrounded the yard and for a penny more you could sit more comfortably with a cushion. The most expensive tickets were in 'The Lord's Rooms'. Admission to indoor theatre's started at about 6 pence. 1 penny was about the cost of a loaf of bread, so the fact that it was so cheap was a reason it was so popular. The groundlings were very close to the action and the floor there was no toilets and the floor they stood on was made up of ash, sand and nutshells. Some people said that the pit smelled of garlic and beer and that no decent citizen should be seen there. So the wealthy would pay more to get a sheltered seat and maybe a cushion. Today, the place where you buy your theatre tickets is called the Box Office. In Shakespeare’s day, as people came into the theatre or climbed the steps to their seats, audiences had to put their money in a box. So the place where audiences pay became known as the box office. Some of the audience went to the theatre to be seen and admired, dressed in their best clothes. But these people were not necessarily well behaved. Most didn’t sit and watch in silence like today. They clapped the heroes and booed the villains, and cheered the special effects. Thieves were common in the audience and sometimes fights broke out. In 1612, magistrates banned music at the end of plays at the Fortune, saying the crowd had caused ‘tumults and outrages’ with their dances.

WEEK 1 - Setting The Scene - Life In Elizabethan England

http://historicalcontextshakespeare.blogspot.co.uk/?m=0

What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? Try to include information on: The population, entertainment, religion, superstition, money, jobs, medicine, theatre.

Elizabethan England was predominantly ruled by the rich and powerful. This was only representative of a small portion of the population however.  Most people who lived in the countryside were very poor. There was much more empty land around then. A quarter of England was uninhabited by humans. These areas were dangerous, there were no roads, tracks or paths and you would not be able to find shelter very easily. There are sometimes small thatched cottages dotted around but they were very rare. The sort of families that lived in these kinds of settlements were very poor. There might often be 7 or 8 people living in them. The cottages were always dark, 24 hours a day. Inside it is a basic layout, 1 room with an earth floor. In the middle there would be a single fire, that is always lit. There would be a small chimney-like opening in the roof to stop you from suffocating. The windows were just holes in the wall. There was no glass in them so they let in the cold constantly so they are normally small. People were much more vulnerable to diseases because of this. Candles were expensive and a poor family wouldn't afford them for light. A typical poor families possessions would consist of: a few pots, some spoons and ladles, a basket and a bench. They would sleep on the floor, or if you were lucky, on a thin straw mattress. 

Elizabethan England had a strict class divide, Your class was decided by what family you were born into (ascribed statues d and it was very hard, if not impossible to be able to move classes. Most people fell into three categories: Yeoman - A yeoman might own his own farm and employ workers. A husbandman - a husbandmen rents the land he works on. Labourer - a labourer would simply work for other people. For poor people looking for work it was difficult. Your best bet was to go around to lots of different farms to see if they had work. 

The main religion in the Elizabethan Era was Protestantism.This had been declared the national religion one year before Shakespeare was born in 1564. However, the Catholic church was still popular within some of the noble families. During her reign, Elizabeth was able to re-establish the English language mass and Protestant bible. Protestant communities could be found among the seaports and larger English towns. She did not persecute Catholics during the beginning of her reign, in an attempt to tone down the religious violence in the country. 

Elizabethan music was an important part of the entertainment industry to the people who lived in the Elizabethan Era. A lot of music were sung in villages and fields to ease the monotonous tasks that workers would be partaking in. The importance of music to the Elizabethans was reflected in the plays of William Shakespeare who makes more than five hundred references to music in his plays and poems.
The most famous Elizabethan theatre was Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Theatre's were as popular as cinemas and movie showings were in the the modern 20th century. Vast amounts of money was made and the inn-keepers increased their profits by allowing plays to be shown on temporary stages erected in the yards of their inns.+