Friday, June 22, 2012

Shakespeare's Theater

It has been discovered.
England’s second permanent theater was built by the actor-manager James Burbage in 1576. Burbage called it …  The Theatre. (Look, they were making the greatest works of drama in the English language at the time: they couldn’t be bothered  to come up with a good name as well.)

Not far away, in Curtain Close, Shoreditch, another theater was built a year later, and dubbed The Curtain. This was used to try new shows or for lesser productions, and from 1597 to 1599 it became the home of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the theater company of William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet debuted there (it’s where the action in Shakespeare in Love would have taken place), as well as Henry V. Once the Globe was built, Shakespeare’s men left the Curtain for good.

The Curtain disappeared from the historical records by the 1620s, only to reappear last week.... (Read entire post.)
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1 comment:

julygirl said...

Not surprising that it has been discovered in an area that was inhabited by the lower classes. Proves the contention that Shakespeare's plays were for ordinary folk.