THE ELIZABETHAN THEATRES
The Elizabethan theatres were square, circular, or octagonal structures,
built of wood, lath and plaster, on stone or brick foundations. They
stood about forty or forty-five feet high. They were built with three
storeys, tiers, or galleries of seats which ran round three sides of the
stage and part of the fourth. On the fourth side, at the back of the
stage, was a tiring house in which the actors robed. The upper storeys
of the tiring house could be used in the action, for a balcony, the
upper storeys of a house, etc., according to the needs of the scene. It
is possible, but not certain, that the tiring house itself was used in
some plays to represent an inner chamber. The three storeys of seats
were divided by partitions into "gentlemen's roomes" and "Twoe pennie
roomes." The top storey was roofed in, either with thatch or tiles. The
stage was roofed over in the same way. The space or yard between the
stage and the galleries which surrounded it, was open to the sky. It
contained no seats, but it held many spectators who stood. "Standing
room" cost a penny. Those who stood could press right up to the stage,
which was a platform four or five feet high projecting well out from the
back of the house "to the middle of the yarde." It was possible to see
the actors "in the round," instead of, as at present, like people in a
picture. The audience got their emotions from the thing done and the
thing said; not, as with us, from the situation. It was the custom of
gallant gentlemen to hire stools placed on the stage itself. They sat
and took tobacco there during the performance. Rank had then a greater
privilege of impertinence than it has to-day. The performances took
place by daylight. They were announced by the blowing of a trumpet.
During a performance, a banner was hung from the theatre roof. The plays
were played straight through, without waits. The only waits necessary in
a theatre are (_a_) those which rest the actors and (_b_) those which
give variety to the moods of the spectators. The double construction of
Shakespeare's plays provided a sub-plot which held or amused the
audience while the actors of the main plot rested. It is possible, but
not certain, that the scenes were played on alternate halves of the
stage, and that when one half of the stage was being cleared of its
properties, or fitted with them, the play continued on the other half.
It is not possible to speak of the general quality of the acting.
Acting, like other dependent art, can only be good when it has good art
to interpret. The acting was probably as good and as bad as the plays.
Careful and impressive speaking and thoughtful, restrained gesture were
qualities which Shakespeare and Ben Jonson praised. It is likely that
the acting of the time was much quicker than modern acting. The plays
were played very swiftly, without hesitation or dawdling over
"business."
There was little or no scenery to most plays. The properties, _i.e._
chairs, beds, etc., were simple and few. The play was the thing. The aim
of the play was to give not a picture of life, but a glorified vision of
life. The object was not realism but illusion. The costumes were of
great splendour. In some productions (as in _Henry VIII_) they were of
an excessive splendour. Music and singing added much to the beauty of
many scenes.
Women were not then allowed upon the stage. Women's parts were played by
boys. Some have thought that this must have taken from the excellence of
the performances. It is highly likely that it added much to it. Nearly
all boys can act extremely well. Very few men and women can.
The playing of women's parts by boys may have limited Shakespeare's art.
His women are kept within the range of thought and emotion likely to be
understood by boys. This may account for their wholesome, animal
robustness. There is no trace of the modern heroine, the common woman
overstrained, or the idle woman in her megrims, in any Shakespearean
play. The people of the plays are alive and hearty. They lead a vigorous
life and go to bed tired. They never forget that they are animals. They
never let any one else forget that they are also divine.