William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is widely considered to be the world's greatest playwright. During his life he wrote at least 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and many poems. His plays have been translated into every major language and to this day are performed all over the world. Shakespeare grew up in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, but by 1592 his plays were being performed on London stages and he went to live in the capital around that time. There were already several open-air theatres in the city, but the Lord Chamberlain's Men - a theatre company which included Shakespeare - decided that London needed a much grander theatre, and so the Globe was built on the South Bank of the Thames, in 1599. On the Globe's flag, flown from the top of the theatre, there was a figure of Hercules carrying a globe on his shoulders, together with the motto 'Totus mundus agit histrionem' (the whole world is a playhouse). Shakespeare made this 'all the world's a stage' in his play As You Like It, which was performed at the Globe. Sometimes they flew a flag with a picture of the next play that was on. They also used different colours depending on the type of play: red for a historical drama, white for a comedy, and black for a tragedy. With room for audiences of up to 3,000 people, the Globe was a three-storey amphitheatre that had quite advanced facilities for stage productions. Props and special effects included the use of real cannon, fireworks, and smoke for battle scenes, trap-doors in the floor of the stage for surprise entrances by actors, and ropes to enable them to make 'flying' entrances from above. There was also music during performances. Going to the Globe was fun. There was a holiday atmosphere outside the theatre, with crowds of people - not only theatre-goers - buying goods and refreshments from the market stalls around the building. It was a particularly popular place with young people, many of whom had taken the day off work to go there. Then, when the play was about to start, a trumpet was blown and people took their places inside the theatre. The cheapest area was called The Pit, where 'commoners' would pay one penny to stand during the production. They would often contribute to the atmosphere of the play, for example by screaming with fright when a 'ghost' appeared. The galleries were occupied by richer individuals, and nobles had seats on the side of the stage itself. Both men and women attended performances, although wealthier women often wore masks to hide their identity. The actors did not prepare their parts. Instead, a person backstage whispered the lines to the actor just before he was going to say them (female parts were played by young boys, as acting was not seen as a 'respectable' job for women). Sometimes a complete scene was not explained to the actor until he was actually performing in it, although it is believed that Shakespeare acted in a number of his own plays there. There was a lot of rivalry between play-houses. Theatres stole plays by sending someone to a performance to copy down all the lines! These stolen plays were called 'Quarto' texts, which meant that alternative, inferior versions of Shakespeare's plays were produced. There was no law of copyright in those days. In 1613, the original Globe Theatre burnt down when a cannon set fire to its roof during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII. The Globe was rebuilt, but in 1642 the Puritans closed it down together with all other places of entertainment. In 1644, it was demolished. A replica of the original, called Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, opened in London in 1997. The first performance in the new theatre was Shakespeare's Henry V. There are also Globe replicas in Italy, the US, and Japan, and an ice replica of the theatre was built in Sweden! 2 Read the text again carefully and answer the questions. 1 Why did Shakespeare move to London? 2. What was the reason for building the Globe Theatre? 3. How did the Globe advertise its plays? 4. What did flying a white flag mean? 5. How could actors come onto the stage from below? 6. What kind of people went to the area around the Globe? 7. Why did some women at the Globe cover their faces? 8. How did the actors know what to say on stage? 9. What was a Quarto text? 10. Why was the rebuilt Globe Theatre closed down?