The Globe was significant in the past because it was part of the English Renaissance, a time when theater and the arts flourished. It was also the place where many of Shakespeare’s plays saw their premieres. Shakespeare himself owned a share in the Globe Theatre.

• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Stands 400 Years and Only Yards Away From the Original.
• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Was Rebuilt to be as Similar to the Original Globe as Possible.
• Building the Original Globe Was a Drama in Itself.
• Shakespeare Was Part-Owner of the Theatre.
• It’s Always Been a Midsummer Destination.

There were many terrible disasters which closed the Globe theatre – the Bubonic Plague was the most terrible of all. Frequent outbreaks started in 1563: In 1603 the Bubonic Plague again ravaged London killing over 33,000 people. The Bubonic Plague struck London in 1608 and the Globe Theatre was closed again.

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.

The first Globe, based on the skeleton of the original Theatre of 1576, was unique not just as the most famous example of that peculiar and short-lived form of theatre design but because it was actually the first to be built specifically for an existing acting company and financed by the company itself.

The Globe is known because of William Shakespeare’s (1564–1616) involvement in it. Plays at the Globe, then outside of London proper, drew good crowds, and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men also gave numerous command performances at court for King James. …

As in the original Globe, the theatre is open to the sky and has a thrust stage that projects into a large circular yard surrounded by three tiers of steeply raked seating. 700 tickets to stand (and you must stand, no sitting allowed) in the yard are available for every performance at 5 pounds each.

By May 1599, the new theatre was ready to be opened. Burbage named it the Globe after the figure of Hercules carrying the globe on his back – for in like manner the actors carried the Globe’s framework on their backs across the Thames.

This roof was probably gabled, with a platform or balcony from which a musician or actor could announce the start of the play. The practical reason for leaving part of the Globe uncovered was that, lacking electricity, actors and audiences needed daylight to see by.

By 1600 London theatres, like the Globe, could take up to 3000 people for the most popular plays.

Globe Theatre Fact 16 The Globe Theatre burnt down in 1613 when a special effect on stage went wrong. A cannon used for a performance of Henry VIII set light to the thatched roof and the fire quickly spread, reportedly taking less than two hours to burn down completely.

From these images we can describe the Globe as a hexagonal structure with an inner court about 55 feet across. It was three-stories high and had no roof. The open courtyard and three semicircular galleries could together hold more than 1,500 people.

The Globe theatre had a central area where there was no cover. This is where the poor people used to watch the plays. They were called the groundlings. They would stand in this area with no protection so when it rained and snowed they got very cold and wet.

Although the original Globe Theatre was lost to fire, today a modern version sits on the south bank of the River Thames. Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is now a huge complex holding a reconstructed original outdoor theatre, a winter theatre, a museum, and an education centre.

Globe Theatre Interior – the Pit or Yard There was no seating – the cheapest part of the Globe Theater and the audience had to stand. The stage structure projected halfway into the ‘ yard ‘ where the commoners (groundlings) paid 1 penny to stand to watch the play.

Or for a penny or so more, you could sit more comfortably on a cushion. The most expensive seats would have been in the ‘Lord’s Rooms’. Admission to the indoor theatres started at 6 pence. One penny was only the price of a loaf of bread.

Tickets for a tour of the theater cost £17 for adults, £15.50 for visitors aged 60 and over, £13.50 for students aged 16 and over, and £10 for children.

The upper class theatre goers of the Globe Theatre would sit in a section higher called the heavens on cushions. Rich nobles would even pay to sit on the actual stage itself. Since plays ran a very long time, people would get rowdy.

Elizabethan general public or people who were not nobility were referred to as groundlings. They would pay one penny to stand in the Pit of the Globe Theater (Howard 75). The upper class spectators would pay to sit in the galleries often using cushions for comfort.

You do need to be central at the globe so the seats in the middle gallery, if central, sound the best. If by ‘the last row’ you mean the back row then this is good as you have something to lean on.