Shakespear

At this time, actors in England usually spent their careers traveling to new towns, performing plays at city buildings or local inns. However, with the help of James Burbage, this all changed. James Burbage designed and built the first theatre in England (Best). The actors could then settle down in one place and perform in a place built for plays. The theatre was a huge success, and many more began popping up all over England, but the theatre built by James Burbage was forever known as The Theatre. The layout of the stage consisted of five levels. The lowest level was for trap doors built into the stage. The next level was the main stage, where the actors did most of their performing. Above this was the balcony level, which could be used to represent anything f

rom a city wall to a mountain. The next level contained pulleys, which could raise or lower anything from above. The top level was used for creating sounds of rain or thunder, or dropping important objects from the sky (Delville).

One of Shakespeare's most popular plays, and one of the most praised plays of the English language is Hamlet. This melodrama centers on the main character, Hamlet, who had the great ability to express in words emotions that many people only slightly felt. This character won the crowd over quickly and it was an instant success. It received praise by many critics who were not fond of Shakespeare before this time. Hamlet was published in 1603, the same year Queen Elizabeth died, ending the Elizabethan era (Delville). The new ruler was King James, who was as much of a fan of acting as Queen Elizabeth. In fact, one of the first things he did as the new ruler of England was make a list of the best actors in England and form an acting company. “The new group was actually just Lord Chamberlain's company with the edition of Lawrence Fletcher, King James' favorite actor. These groups of actors now were called the King's Men” (Delville).

In 1608, the King's Men purchased a theatre at Blackfriars. They now had access to two theatres, and the people who could not travel far enough to get to one, could visit the other (Hazlitt). The Tempest, probably the last play written by Shakespeare before his retirement, was a fairy tail. It contained many enchantments and spirits, and a monster. “By the time it opened in December of 1611 however, Shakespeare had retired from the King's Men. After his retirement, he wrote only one play, Henry VIII” (Hazlitt). The premiere of this play was a huge event in England, and many people crowded into The Globe to watch it. During the play however, a cannon, which was used for effects, misfired and caused a fire inside the theatre. No one was hurt, but The Globe was ruined. It had burned to the ground before anyone could stop it. Considering the success of the company, they were quick to rebuild The Globe. Shakespeare helped pay for the repairs, but he never gave the company another play. “He died on April 23, 1616, in Stratford and was buried at a local church. After Shakespeare's death, Henry Condell and John Heminges published the first complete edition of Shakespeare's plays. This was the first time many of the plays were available to be read” (Timeline). Some plays were pub

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