The first Playhouse in London (almost) - why it's here
Make sure that you are standing at position (2) on the map.
At the start of the reign
of Elizabeth I, there were no “Playhouses” in London (buildings built specifically to put
on plays). Instead, drama was put on by groups
of players in places such as the Inner Temple, in private houses, and in inn yards.
Groups of players moved around the country to centres of population big
enough to get an audience together. London’s population doubled in the 16C
(from 100k to 200k) giving a greater scope for getting an audience together for
regular performances.
In inn yards, the stage would be a cart with a curtain at the back. The
galleries were for the rich, the yard for the poor. Because you didn't have to pay to get in, players were reliant on what they could collect from the audience during the performance. Sometimes they would perform part of a play, making sure they made a lot of noise in order to get a good crowd in. Then, at a cliff hanger moment or just before a popular character appeared, they would go round the audience to take a collection. Just like the buskers in Covent Garden today!
The plaque on the wall here says that The Theatre was the first London
building built specially to put on plays.
This is not exactly true. In fact
there was a theatre called the Red Lion built by John Brayne in 1567. The Red Lion sounds like a pub, but was a theatre. It was named after the Red Lion farm who owned the land, It was just
east of where the Whitechapel hospital is now.
However, the Red Lion did not seem to last too long. There were plays that Londoners could see in
the City, without a longish walk to Whitechapel, and so perhaps it never took off.
However, things happened in the 1570s that changed the game. In 1571 the Mayor of London and his Aldermen banned plays in the City. This was due to worries about spreading the Plague, riotous behaviour, and also pressure from Puritans who
thought plays immoral. In 1572, Elizabeth's privy council introduced a Vagabonds Act. Justices of the Peace were called on to license beggars. Unlicensed vagabonds were to be whipped and burned through the ear. The act stated that local surplus funds should be used to “place and settle to work the rogues and vagabonds.” In addition, it demanded that all actors companies be licensed. Then in 1575 the Mayor of London had all players
expelled from the city under pain of flogging. This now made it extremely difficult to put on plays in the City. .
Seizing the opportunity, in 1576, James Burbage, together with his brother
in law John Brayne (of the Red Lion), took a 21 year lease on some
ground from the owner, Gyles Allen. They
then had “The Theatre” built. The land that “The Theatre” was built on was adjacent to the Liberty of Norton Folgate and was on land that used to be part of Holywell Priory (St John the Baptist), so was out of the
jurisdiction of the City and its ban on plays. "The Theatre" was successful from the start. The first players company to use it was possibly Leicester's Men, which was the players company of Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester and of which James Burbage was a member. Later in the 1580s the Admiral's Men, of which James Burbage's son, Richard was a member used The Theatre. In 1594, Richard Burbage became the leading actor of the Lord Chamberlain's Men and performed at The Theatre until 1597.
To find out more about how and why commercial playhouses came to be built in London 1565-1595, see the Before Shakespeare web site.
To find out more about how and why commercial playhouses came to be built in London 1565-1595, see the Before Shakespeare web site.
Enter William Shakespeare
Shakespeare was born in 1564, so he was only 12 and in Stratford upon Avon when “The Theatre” was
built. He seems to have been a fast developer though, because he got married at age
18 to a pregnant 26 year old Anne Hathaway . He then quickly had three children: Susanna, and then soon after twins Hamnet and Judith. He seems to have left Stratford upon Avon soon after that, although details are not recorded about what he did. The time up to 1592 is known as his "Lost Years" because there is no record of what he was doing. Recently, David Fallow, a former financier, who has spent years studying the Shakespeare family’s wealth, has come up with a theory that William Shakespeare was perhaps helping his father, John, in his illegal wool trading activities.
Anyway, William must have also been developing his theatrical reputation as there is evidence that he was working as a writer in London. The plays Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3 are thought to have been written between 1589–91 as were a number of other plays. In 1592 Shakespeare is described as an 'up- start crow' in Greene's Groats-worth of Wit, a pamphlet. This is taken as evidence that he is in London by this time. Greene is suggesting that Shakespeare, as an actor, is an upstart for also trying to be a writer. In 1594 there is a payment record for his acting work at the Queen's court as part of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Some of his early plays were put on at The Theatre (for example Romeo and Juliet), and he also probably also acted there.
Anyway, William must have also been developing his theatrical reputation as there is evidence that he was working as a writer in London. The plays Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3 are thought to have been written between 1589–91 as were a number of other plays. In 1592 Shakespeare is described as an 'up- start crow' in Greene's Groats-worth of Wit, a pamphlet. This is taken as evidence that he is in London by this time. Greene is suggesting that Shakespeare, as an actor, is an upstart for also trying to be a writer. In 1594 there is a payment record for his acting work at the Queen's court as part of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Some of his early plays were put on at The Theatre (for example Romeo and Juliet), and he also probably also acted there.
The Theatre had a mostly successful twenty one years, but then the lease on the land from
Gyles Allen ran out. Probably wanting this money spinner for himself, Allen wouldn't extend the lease and claimed that half of the theatre building was now his. This created a big argument and both sides went to law. Gyles Allen died, but his widow continued with the claim. James Burbage too was getting old and was sick
(in fact also dying), so in 1597 James gave “The Theatre” to his sons, Richard
and Cuthbert. Not wanting to lose the property given to them by their father, over the
Christmas and new year holiday of 1597, they arranged for “The Theatre” to be dismantled and moved to a warehouse in
Bridewell. In the spring of the next
year, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage formed a company to build the Globe Theatre
on the south bank of the Thames. They used the timbers salvaged from “The
Theatre” to help build “The Globe”.
The company formed to
build The Globe consisted of Richard and Cuthbert, who owned 50% of it, and
five others (William Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope and Will Kempe) who each owned 10% each. However, Will Kemp seems to have argued with the other shareholders, as he sold his share
to them and left the company. In 1599 he embarked on his famous “9 Days Wonder” dance to Norwich from London. In 1600, he went
on a European tour, but then returned to London and died penniless in 1603.
As the Globe was being built, “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men” needed a
place to continue performing, and so they moved down to our next stop, “The
Curtain Theatre”.
We are now going to walk south
down Curtain Road. Turn left into Hewett
Street. On the right was the site of the Curtain Theatre (marked 3 on the map).
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