Existing comment:
The Play's the Thing!
Staging Shakespeare In His Own Time:
All of Shakespeare's plays reflect the practical challenges of putting on a show. As an actor and a shareholder in an acting company, Shakespeare was a man of the theater as well as a writer.
Staging a play in Shakespeare's time, however, was different in some ways than in most theaters today. For example, the actors were all male, costumes were often present-day clothes, and audiences knew much more about swordplay. On the wall behind you, lines from the plays illustrate these and other aspects of stagecraft in Shakespeare's day.
During his lifetime, Shakespeare's plays were performed in many settings, from outdoor and indoor theaters to royal palaces and public inns. The large images in this room evoke the best-known location of all: the Globe. |