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Shakespeare, with the help of a company called Lord Chamberlain's Men, built a theater in London. The theater was built "only because it could not use the roofed facility" of Blackfriar Theater, owned by James Burbage. (The Success of the Globe). Unfortunately, thegovernment banned its use for plays in 1596. Burbage'splan for future theater was held back. The result of hurried construction of the Globe in 1599 stole the hearts of not only the playgoers but also of their own company. After achieving James Burbage’s original plan for Blackfriar Theater, Shakespeare, his company, and the members decided to run both theaters together. “...they easily could have rented one of the buildings to another company, since there was a shortage of playhouses in London in this period. But they kept both for themselves.” (The Success Of The Globe, P1) This tells us that the theater’s success comes from keeping the profits from both The Blackfriars and the Globe theaters for themselves.

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For some people the Globe Theater looked like any theater or amphitheater around London, but not many knew the complicated architecture behind it. The Theater was built based on the Greek and Roman styles. “James Burbage built the very first theatre with his brother-in-law John Brayne. The architecture of 'The Theatre' was designed as a construction which was similar to a small Roman amphitheatre.”  (Globe Theater Architecture par. 3) Greek and Rome were the two countries back in Shakespeare’s time that contained many well known amphitheaters. Therefore, Shakespeare and his companions wanted to build a theater that slightly resembling those that were in Greek and Rome.To add, many high timber columns also added to the building because it resembled the queen’s house entrance. The Globe wasn’t built carefully to please the audience but mainly to satisfy the queen’s expectations.

Surprisingly, this building could hold 1500-3000 people at the same time. In the theater, people were “seating in the form of degrees (wooden benches raked upward to the rear), along with the roofing over the topmost gallery, provided all the comfort short of a cushion that Elizabethans expected. “(Gurr par. 9) Meeting the queen expectations could bring many advantages to the theater. For example, if the queen came to the theater often more people would be curious about the plays and the royal family; therefore, more would come to watch. Besides those, the stage of the theater was huge. It “was large, 43 or 44 feet across and 27 or more feet deep.” (Gurr par. 10)This great in size also brought the audience with a more bigger and intense scenes. Huge timber columns,big stage, and a wide view from long sitting benches, which curved into a C-shape, had enhanced the plays for the audience back then.

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The Globe plays grabbed a vast amount of audience in the Elizabethan period. During this period, "there were no copyright laws" (Globe Theater Plays, P1). As a result, many of the same stories were told differently. Plays at the Globe were divided into three types: Tragedies, Comedies,and Histories. According to The Globe Plays, "written documentation verifying the dates when famous plays were performed at the Globe Theater were limited." A few examples of plays that were dated are the following:Macbeth (1606), Hamlet (1600-1601), All's Well That End Well (1602), Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar (first play ever performed at the Globe).

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In order to become one of the best theaters in London, it had to go through many difficulties. The first Globe was destroyed by a disaster. “Disaster struck the Globe in 1613. On 29 June, at a performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, some small cannons were fired.” (The Globe par.6). Unfortunately the builders from Shakespeare’s company had to rebuild the theater due to serious destruction from fire. They built the second based on the structure of the first one. They changed some decorations and structures of the building to make it look more fascinating. “ It was the same size and shape, but was much more extravagantly decorated; the company could now afford it. It also had a tiled roof, not a thatched one.”(The Globe par. 6) The first globe was poorly done due to lack of money. This time they saved enough money to buy more expensive and beautiful materials to rebuild the Globe. Everything was going fine until something happened. The land they were building on was owned by someone. Unfortunately, the owner said it was his theater since he owned the land. “[The builders] took it down while [the land owner] was away [for]Christmas. Their builder stored it in his yard on the north bank of the Thames.” With their money from the plays, they started to rebuild the theater on the south bank of River Thames, which was near Rose Theater. Around that place, there were already a big group of people going in and out of the river bank to watch the many available entertainments.”People already went there to be entertained. [There were] two theatres (the Rose and the Swan), animal baiting arenas, taverns and brothels.”(The Globe par. 3). This could be a disadvantage towards the Globe theater because there were other entertainments and two other famous theaters around it. Luckily, Shakespeare’s plays and the design of the theater successfully pulled the audience from other entertainments for itself.

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Research Organizer: Minh Phan & Angelina Tran