Shakespeare's Theatre

Theatre in Shakespeare's Time

• Theatre was a popular form of entertainment for both rich and poor.
• People attend plays like modern audiences go to movies or sports matches.
• Even Queen Elizabeth I watched Shakespeare's plays.

Theatres and Performances

• Plays were performed in various theatres in London.

• The Globe Theatre was a famous venue, seating 3,000 people.

  

• The audience was lively and interactive:

  • Cheered and clapped at parts they liked.
  • Shouted and threw vegetables at parts they disliked.

• Plays also commented on social issues.

Audience and Language

• Audiences enjoyed witty and dramatic language.
• Shakespeare's plays included:
  • Poetry and humour.
  • Sexual and dramatic themes, entertained rather than shocked.
• Like modern audiences enjoy comedies and soap operas, Elizabethan audiences love jokes and drama.