THE FIRST PERFORMANCES OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PLAYS
We cannot be totally accurate about the actual first performance dates of many Shakespeare's play because the documented evidence is simply not available but we can estimate the year in which they were performed
Plays were performed very soon after they were written! The theatres wanted the Profit! New Performances meant Bigger Audiences!
As soon as a play had been written it was immediately produced - printing followed productions! So the actors initially used draft scripts called 'foul papers' or were prompted from off-stage
Plays were blatantly copied and stolen - read the section on Quarto Texts - and this plagiarism led to different versions of some of William Shakespeare's plays! In Shakespeare’s time Copyright did not exist!
The performances were exciting! New Theatres! Great costumes and Props! Sound Effects! Visual effects!
In the amphitheatres there were smoke effects, the firing of a real canon, fireworks and spectacular 'flying' entrances from the rigging in the top of the theatre called the 'heavens'
Music also accompanied productions at the Globe Theater
Summer performances would be held in the open air Theatres like the Globe and winter performances would be produced in the indoor Playhouses like Blackfriars
There was not time for many rehearsals. It was important to put on new plays. Several different plays might show at one theatre in one week - “eleven performances of ten different plays”
Shakespearean Actors generally only got their lines as the play was in progress called “ cue scripting ” the Actors did not know the plot until the play was being performed!
Zero rehearsal time enabled a fast turnover in terms of new productions and a huge portfolio of different plays. More Money!
There were no females in the Theatres. Young boy actors would take on these roles!
How much did it cost to see a play? Globe audiences paid one penny (which they put in a box by the door - hence the term 'Box Office')
The penny allowed them to view the play by standing on the ground, in front of the stage ( these people were called the Groundlings!)
The Playhouses were more expensive - the cheapest being two pennies!
