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Not all of them were. Plays performed indoors at court, in private halls or at indoor theatres like the Blackfriars were lit by candlelight and could therefore be performed at night. Plays performed in the outdoor theatres used sunlight to illuminate the stage and so had to be performed during daylight.

Apex) no stage light was avilable

Because the only artificial lighting available after dark in those days were either fire-torches or oil lamps, both of which were fire hazards. To have naked flames ablaze in a packed Elizabethan theatre (which were usually thatch-roofed and with timber framing) was considered far too dangerous; if a torch or lamp went over and started a fire, it would have engulfed the entire building very quickly and risked the audience being either burned or trampled to death in the ensuing panic. In addition, the design of Elizabethan theatre buildings did not allow for the provision of emergency exits.

In point of fact, it was indeed fire that destroyed the first Globe Theatre in London in June 1613, but this was started by a cannon mounted on the roof of the building that was used to provide sound-effects, and not by naked flames. During a production of Shakespeare's last play Henry VIII, smouldering wadding which the cannon was packed with got stuck in the thatched roof and ignited- it's not known whether anybody died in the fire, but there must have been some panic and the building was burned to the ground.

Not ALL plays were performed during daylight hours in Elizabethan times though- Royalty, nobles and wealthy patrons of the arts had special evening productions of plays performed in the galleries or great halls of their houses, which were considered much safer from fire risk and would have been lit at night anyway.

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