Introduction to Shakespeare-

Lesson 1
Need:
• Globe diagram- 1 each
• 6 gps of 4 and 2 gps of 3 (8 copies of quizzes- 1 per group)
• 1 different plot per group (print 1 of each)
C/W Tuesday 15th November 2022.
Introduction to Shakespeare:
The World of the Globe
Lesson Objectives:
 GOLD: Thou mayst even evaluate why Shakespeare’s plays be
yet beloved in our own time
 SILVER: Thou mightst understand how the theatre did change
‘neath the rule of Elizabeth the First
 BRONZE: Thou shalt know many a fact about Elizabethan
theatres

Starter task: complete

your Transition unit
reflection task on GC.
 Starter
 What differences are there between this
theatre and theatres today?
 What would/would not be possible in
this space?
 What might have been different about
the plays performed there?
 Stick the theatre diagram in…
As you can see, the Elizabethan theatre makes it possible to
show a wide range of stories to a wide range of people. Keep
annotating your diagram as you learn new things this lesson.
 Just to be clear…
Shakespeare wrote in the
Elizabethan (Elizabeth I) and
Jacobean (James I) eras, from
around 1590 to 1613.

We sometimes call this period the

‘English Renaissance’, the ‘Early
Modern Period’ or ‘The late 16th
century/early 17th century’. They
all mean roughly the same thing.

Just don’t say ‘in the olden times’,

‘back then’ or ‘in Victorian times’
because you’ll sound SILLY.
 Truth or Falsehood?

Seven facts be true, yet three

be false!

Discuss with your group and

decide which…
 Truth or Falsehood?
Theatres were thought to encourage drinking, fighting and
other naughty behaviour, and to spread plague. There was a
significant group who wanted them all closed down.

‘Tis most true!

Theatres were crowded and noisy, and used for gambling,

cock-fighting and all sorts of dodgy deals. The Puritans wanted
them closed, and they succeeded for a while in the 17 th
century.
 Truth or Falsehood?
Most of the plays performed in Elizabethan London
were written by William Shakespeare.

‘Tis a damnable falsehood!

There were between 200 and 300 people actively writing plays
for performance at the same time as Shakespeare – it’s just that
we haven’t kept them all. Some got lost, and some were just
rubbish. Printing plays to keep, especially with the author
named, was a very new idea.
 Truth or Falsehood?
All the theatres moved to the South side of the
Thames in 1596 because they were no longer
allowed in the London city limits.

‘Tis most apt and true!

They really were as controversial as gambling dens,
brothels and bear pits. That’s why the modern
Shakespeare’s Globe, built in 1997, is on the South
Bank.
 Truth or Falsehood?
In 1613, during a performance of ‘Henry VIII’ at the
Globe, a cannon was fired on stage, catching light to
the thatched roof and burning the whole theatre
down.

‘Tis true, I tell thee!

You should always take care with pyrotechnics.
Silly Shakespeare.
 Truth or Falsehood?
In Elizabethan times, female characters were
played by high-voiced boys in dresses wearing
make-up.

‘Tis true, i’faith!

Women were not allowed to appear on stage (just one
of a wide range of exciting things they were banned
from doing), so characters like Lady Macbeth,
Cleopatra and Juliet? All played by boys in lipstick and
wigs.
 Truth or Falsehood?
Actors in Shakespeare’s time were given just their own cues
and lines to learn, often overnight, and were then expected to
perform the next day with no rehearsal, and just a brief
explanation of what the scene was about before they went on.

Most honourable truth!

Richard Burbage, the first actor to play Hamlet, would
have had 1476 lines to learn like this.
What a memory!
 Truth or Falsehood?
Queen Elizabeth I attended the Globe regularly, and
even had her own special seat with extra cushions.

O, villainous lie!
Elizabeth is shown attending the Globe in the film
‘Shakespeare in Love’, but she actually only attended
plays at indoor theatres, with members of the court and
nobles. She did love the theatre though, and probably
did have her own special cushiony seat.
 Truth or Falsehood?
These days, the ‘pit’ at the New Globe has a maximum
capacity of 700 people, but in Shakespeare’s time a
space the same size sometimes held 1500, standing
shoulder-to-shoulder.

True, by this hand!

Tickets for the pit cost a penny (around £3) so
comfort wasn’t really expected. You could pay twice
or three times as much for a seat if you had the
money.
 Truth or Falsehood?
Thieves operated within theatres regularly, usually
by swiftly slicing people’s purses from their belts
with a knife.

True, or else I am a rogue!

They even had a special word for them – ‘cut-
purses’. Imagine calling your friend a ‘borrow-
protractor’ or a ‘copy-homework’.
 Truth or Falsehood?
If you talked while in the audience, you could
be fined a shilling (about £30-40).

Fie upon’t, ‘tis false!

People talked, jeered, cheered, heckled the actors and
even threw things like rotten fruit during plays. The
groundlings (poorer people who stood in the pit) were
particularly well-known for this.
 A Golden Age of Theatre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P1IJqNDYjQ

Watch the documentary and write about:

GOLD: Why Early Modern theatre might still appeal to us

today
SILVER: Why the late 16th century is considered ‘Early
Modern’ and how this was different from the Medieval
period
BRONZE: What else you find out here about Elizabethan
theatre and Shakespeare’s role in it
 A few good plots
Each group now has the plot of a Shakespeare play to read.

Mind-map in your books:

GOLD: Reasons why it might still be relevant to us in

today’s society
SILVER: How it explores themes relevant to Elizabethan or
Jacobean society
BRONZE: How this play might have made use of the
Elizabethan theatre space
 Final Thought
Shakespeare is disliked as well as loved.

On the upper half of your post-it note,

write the worst thing you have ever heard
or thought about Shakespeare’s plays, and
stick it to the board/paper.

We will deal with these next lesson!