The Theatre
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- This article is about one specific theatre in London; for information on theatres in general, see Theatre. For other uses, see Theatre (disambiguation)
The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch (part of the modern Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. Built by actor-manager James Burbage, near the family home in Holywell Street, The Theatre is considered the first theatre built in London for the sole purpose of theatrical productions. The Theatre's history includes a number of important acting troupes including the Lord Chamberlain's Men which employed Shakespeare as actor and playwright. After a dispute with the landlord, the theatre was dismantled and the timbers used in the construction of the Globe Theatre on Bankside.
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[edit] Construction
The Theatre was constructed in 1576 by James Burbage in partnership with his brother-in-law John Brayne on property that had originally been the grounds of the of dissolved priory of Halliwell (or Holywell). The location of The Theatre was in Shoreditch, beyond the northern boundary of the City of London and thus outside the jurisdiction of civil authorities who were often opposed to the theatre. This area in the "suburbs of sin" was notorious for licentious behaviour, brothels and gaming houses, and a year later another theatre called The Curtain was built nearby, making the area London's first theatrical and entertainment district.[1]
[edit] "This wooden O"
The design of The Theatre was possibly adapted from the inn-yards that had served as playing spaces for actors and/or bear baiting pits . The building was a polygonal wooden building with three galleries that surrounded an open yard. In Shakespeare's Henry V, the chorus' speech describes the theatre as, "This wooden O." From one side of the polygon extended a thrust stage. In order to make the theatre profitable, it is possible that the stage was removable to allow animal baiting. The Theatre is said to have cost £700 to construct, a considerable sum for the age.[2]
The open yard in front of the stage was standing room for those only paying a penny. For another penny, audience members were allowed into the galleries where they either stood or, for a third penny, could procure a stool. One of the galleries, though sources do not know which, was divided into small compartments that could be used by the wealthy and aristocrats.
[edit] History
The Theatre opened in the autumn of 1576, possibly as a venue for Leicester's Men, the acting company of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester of which James Burbage was a member. In the 1580s the Admiral's Men, of which James Burbage's son, Richard was a member, took up residence. After a disagreement between the company and young Burbage broke out, most of the company left for the Rose Theatre which was under the management of Philip Henslowe.
In 1594, Richard Burbage became the leading actor of the Lord Chamberlain's Men which performed here until 1597. Poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare was also in the employ of the Company here and some of his his early plays, possibly including an early version of Hamlet (the so-called Ur-Hamlet) were premiered here.
[edit] Foundation of the Globe
Towards the end of 1596, problems arose with the property's landlord, one Giles Allen. In consequence, in 1597, the Lord Chamberlain's Men were forced to stop playing at the Theatre and moved to the nearby Curtain. The lease, which had been granted to Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage upon the death of their father, expired the following year. The sight of the deserted Theatre prompted these lines from a minor satirist of the day:
- But see yonder,
- One like the unfrequented Theatre
- Walks in dark silence and vast solitude. (Skialetheia, Edward Guilpin, 1598).
This state of affairs forced the Burbage brothers to take drastic action to save their investment. In defiance of the landlord and with the help of their friend and financial backer William Smith, chief carpenter Peter Street and ten or twelve workman, they dismantled the theatre on the night of the 28th December 1598 and moved the structure piecemeal across the Thames. The pieces of The Theatre were then used in the construction of the Globe Theatre (Schoenbaum 1987: 206-209).
No remains of The Theatre survive. Its former site is marked by a plaque at 88-86 Curtain Road, Shoreditch (De Young and Miller 1998: 119).
[edit] The Red Lion
John Brayne, originally a grocer and one of the partners in The Theatre, had built an earlier playhouse in Mile End, called the Red Lion, in 1567. It appears to have been a success, but scant information about it survives. (Gurr, 1992, pp. 30, 247).
The Red Lion was a receiving house for touring companies, whereas The Theatre accepted long term engagements, essentially in repertory. The former was considered a continuation of the tradition of playing at inns, the later a radically new form of theatrical engagement.
There is no evidence that the Red Lion continued beyond the summer of 1567[3], although the law suit, from which we know much of the little we know of it, dragged on until 1578.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mullaney, 1988.
- ^ Egan, 2005.
- ^ Egan, Gabriel. 2005. "Platonism and Bathos in Shakespeare and Other Early Modern Drama." Refiguring Mimesis: Representation in Early Modern Literature. Edited by Jonathan Holmes and Adrian Streete. Hatfield. University of Hertfordshire Press. pp. 59-78
[edit] References
- De Young, J. and Miller, J. (1998) London Theatre Walks, New York: Applause Books.
- Gabriel Egan (2005), Platonism and bathos in Shakespeare and other early modern drama accessed 13 Nov 2006.
- Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642. Third edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th edition. London:Oxford UP, 1983. p. 964.
- Moreton, W. H. C. (1976) "Shakespeare came to Shoreditch" LBH Library Services Text accessed 10 Nov 2006.
- Mullaney, S. (1988) The Place of the Stage: Licence, Play and Power in Renaissance England. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Schoenbaum, S. (1987) William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life. Oxford University Press.
- Thomson, Peter. "The Theatre". in Banham, Martin, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, London: Cambridge UP, 1992.
