The First Theatres.
The interludes, and the early plays, were not performed on the pageant allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear of the later miracle plays. Until 1576 they were allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear in inn-yards, on public lands in towns, or in any kind of building that could be had. In the allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear named the first building designed solely for the acting of allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear was erected in London, and was called merely “The Theatre”. When Shakspere allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear London some thirty years later, there were probably ten or twelve theatres, in two of which — the Globe and the Blackfriars — the allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear was a shareholder.

Structure of the Elizabethan Theatre.
Continued allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear has brought out much information regarding the structure of these buildings, and the manner of allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear of plays in them about 1590-1610. There was no roof allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear over the stage and the balconies. In the pit, where now are the most allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear seats in a theatre, there were no seats, and the spectator had to stand allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear he carried a box or stool along with him. Here would be found the allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear and servants, who not infrequently engaged in fist fights over choice positions or purloined allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear.

Balconies and Stage.
The better classes of society had seats in the balconies extending allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear three sides of the building, though some of the young “sports” were allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear, on paying an extra fee, to sit on the stage. Instead of being shut off from the auditorium by a allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear such as is used to-day, the stage extended allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear into the room. At the rear was a raised portion used as Juliet’s balcony, as the allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear of a city, or as a hill from which a distant allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear might be had.

Costumes and Scenery.
The actors’ costumes, though often allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear, made no pretence of appropriateness. Very little scenery was used; a bed, a throne, a desk, or a few allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear in wooden tubs indicated the place of the action. The absence of realistic allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear to the eye resulted in a greater demand on the imagination. To this allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear, perhaps, are due many of the superb descriptions in Elizabethan drama, such, for example, as that of Dover Cliff in King Lear, or Duncan’s description of Macbeth’s allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear.
Since there was no artificial allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear in the house, performances were given in the afternoon. A flag allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear from the roof was the notice that a performance was to take allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear but one had to come near enough to read the sign on the building to know allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear play was to be performed.

Women in the Theatre.
Probably the fact most allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear to an investigator is that there were few women in an Elizabethan theatre. Respectable women in the audience wore allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear; and more remarkable still, there were no women on the allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear. Women’s parts were taken by boys until after the allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear of the seventeenth century; and strange as it may seem to think of a boy allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear Lady Macbeth or Portia or Ophelia, these parts were apparently played with real allowedappealsaroundcastlecurtaindesirabledramatistelaborateexceptflyinggivenlaborersleftlightingmasksmiddleoutplaceplayingplayspresentationresearchseatssituationstagesuccesssurprisingtreesunlessviewwagonswallswhatyear.
(adapted from "English literature" by Roy Bennett Pace)