S - “Stage”

The temporary stage the Players construct for their performance before the King is a thrust stage—one surrounded on three sides by the audience—as opposed to a proscenium stage, theatre-in-the-round, etc. (The soundstage in which Hamlet was filmed is at Shepperton Studios, which also accommodated Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet (1990)). Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre was also a thrust stage, immediately surrounded by the open yard where the groundlings would stand; seating was available only in the galleries surrounding the center. 

The Globe could accommodate up to 3,000 spectators of all stripes, who would pay one to six pennies, depending on their means and accustomed level of comfort. Apples, oranges, and bottles of ale were sold, which often meant the crowd was lively and outspoken. Excepting the special occasions when his company would perform for the annual royal pageants at Christmastime, Shakespeare’s plays largely catered to the general public’s sensibilities, so the performances were quick and action-packed. The Queen, contrary to some contemporary beliefs, never condescended to the point of slumming at The Globe—Shakespeare came to her, not vice versa.

The dialogue of the plays often referred to the theatre itself. Hamlet mentions “this distracted globe” and points out the “majestical roof fretted with golden fire”—describing the “heavens,” a canopy meant to protect the actors from sun and rain, which was painted with golden stars. The Chorus at the start of Henry V implores the audience to imagine that they can cram the battle of Agincourt “within this wooden O.” Prospero, in his famous “our revels now are ended” speech, says that everything is a dream, and “the great globe itself” will dissolve. The Globe has indeed been wasted away by fire and time, having burnt down in 1613, rebuilt, and then turned to tenement housing by 1644.

The third and currently standing Globe on the south bank of the Thames was completed in 1997, but only after years of much “great obsession” by actor Sam Wanamaker, who insisted that London should have more than a mere plaque commemorating the Bard’s historic playhouse. It took this enthusiastic American’s vision and fundraising verve to convince modern-day landowners to allow construction of something other than residential high-rises on the spot where The Globe now stands (only one block away from the site of the original). 

The first artistic director of the newest Globe was prolific and famed actor/stage director Sir Mark Rylance, who directed and acted in every season of shows from 1995-2005. A fellow Royal Academy of Dramatic Art alum, Rylance starred alongside Branagh in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017). 

Sources:

Arnold, Catharine. Globe: Life in Shakespeare’s London. Simon and Schuster UK Limited, 2015.

IMDb.com