As the one year anniversary of the construction of the Besen Family Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) approaches us we thought that it would be only fitting to compile a brief comparison between this state-of-the-art performing arts centre that we are so proud to own and one of the earliest types of performing arts facilities in England, The Elizabethan Theatre.
The BPAC is a fully seated theatre capable of seating up to 1000 people, while the Elizabethan Theatres were capable of accommodating anywhere between 2000 and 3000 patrons. Even though this may seem as though Elizabethan Theatre was far more superior in the area of providing for patrons, there are many more factors that have to be put into consideration.
Firstly, in Elizabethan Theatre, seating was determined by wealth and social status. A perso
n was able to attend a play for as little as one penny, where they would watch the performance while standing in the pit or yard. This people were labelled “groundlings” and were generally the lower class of society. The wealthy were usually able to pay an additional fee of one penny for the right to sit in the galleries, a second story of the theatre containing seats covered by a roof. If someone were able to afford it, he would sometimes pay up to five pennies to sit next to the stage.
Although women attended theatre in Elizabethan times it was often considered inappropriate, and therefore, when wealthier women attended plays, they would wear masks to conceal their identity. Today, however, the vast majority of audiences are comprised of women.
There are a lot of differences between the structure of Eli
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