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Shakespeare actually came just after the beginning of the Elizabethan/Jacobean drama boom between 1590 and 1642. There are relatively few plays in the period before 1590. An important play was the revenge tragedy The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd which provided the style and form for Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Hamlet, and such later plays as Webster's Duchess of Malfi (1612) and Middleton's Revenger's Tragedy (1607). Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (ca. 1589) had historical, romantic and magical aspects, with a plot as diverse and complex as A Midsummer Night's Dream. Comedies had been around for a long time as witness Gammer Gurton's Needle (ca. 1555) and Ralph Roister Doister (1553) both of which owed something to Roman Comedy (as did Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors). Some of Shakespeare's plays had elements of the pastoral, popularized by Sir Philip Sydney's novel Arcadia. Pastorals were to become even more popular in Jacobean theatre. The early play Gorbaduc (1561) was not only in blank verse but was also in essence a history play, although from the shadowy period of pre-saxon history where we find Cymbeline and King Lear.

In essence, then, most of the genres which Shakespeare used were those of his predecessors. Although Shakespeare did innovate, he mainly shines over his contemporaries in his complex characters, powerful language and universal themes, rarely matched in any other playwrights of the day. He rarely indulged in satire, which was found in such plays as Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Dekker's Satiromastix or Jonson's Cynthia's revels. The topical nature of these plays makes them uninteresting today.

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Where were Shakespeares plays performed before the Globe Theatre?

Newington Butts Theatre


What type of people performed in shakespeares plays?

Actors. Before 1660, only actors and no actresses performed in the plays.


What places were shakespeare's plays performed in?

Theatres, mostly. The Theatre, Curtain, Globe and Blackfriars were theatres in which the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later King's Men) regularly played. Shakespeare's plays may also have been performed at the Rose or Newington Butts before he joined the Chamberlain's Men. They were also performed at court and at the homes of the uppermost nobility, as well as in halls such as that at the Inner Temple (where we know Twelfth Night was performed). And they were also performed on improvised stages. The theatres were occasionally closed down in London and on such occasions, the company would go on tour and play in innyards and guildhalls in country towns. This happened in 1596. In one unusual case, Richard II was performed on board a ship anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.


Before the first theatres were built in London were where were plays usually held?

Plays and the theater are woven deeply into the history of many cities such as London. Prior to the first theaters being built, shows took place in pageant wagons.


Where were most of shakespeare's plays performed?

During his lifetime his plays were performed in large outdoor theatres like the Curtain and the Globe, or small indoor theatres like the Blackfriars, or at Court (in palaces), or in private houses or in meeting halls.

Related Questions

Where were Shakespeares plays performed before the Globe Theatre?

Newington Butts Theatre


What type of people performed in shakespeares plays?

Actors. Before 1660, only actors and no actresses performed in the plays.


What was thee theater where Shakespeares's plays first performed?

Different Theatres for different plays. Some of Shakespeare's plays were written before he had a lasting association with the theatre owners James, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, and were known to have been performed at Henslowe's Rose and Newington Butts Theatres. After he became a partner in the company in 1594, Shakespeare's plays were only put on by that company in one of the Burbage playhouses: the Theatre, the Curtain, the Globe and the Blackfriars. But the plays were often not performed in theatres at all, but on makeshift stages in public halls (the first recorded performance of Twelfth Night took place in such a venue), people's houses and at court. The plays may have premiered in one of these venues and not in a theatre at all.


What places were shakespeare's plays performed in?

Theatres, mostly. The Theatre, Curtain, Globe and Blackfriars were theatres in which the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later King's Men) regularly played. Shakespeare's plays may also have been performed at the Rose or Newington Butts before he joined the Chamberlain's Men. They were also performed at court and at the homes of the uppermost nobility, as well as in halls such as that at the Inner Temple (where we know Twelfth Night was performed). And they were also performed on improvised stages. The theatres were occasionally closed down in London and on such occasions, the company would go on tour and play in innyards and guildhalls in country towns. This happened in 1596. In one unusual case, Richard II was performed on board a ship anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.


Before the first theatres were built in London were where were plays usually held?

Plays and the theater are woven deeply into the history of many cities such as London. Prior to the first theaters being built, shows took place in pageant wagons.


Where were most of shakespeare's plays performed?

During his lifetime his plays were performed in large outdoor theatres like the Curtain and the Globe, or small indoor theatres like the Blackfriars, or at Court (in palaces), or in private houses or in meeting halls.


What was the last thing shakespeares wrote before he died?

sonnet


Did Shakespeare only perform his plays at the globe theatre?

No. Indeed, he had already been an actor and playwright for ten years before it was even built. His plays were known to have been performed at the Rose, Newington Butts, Theatre and Curtain theatres before there ever was a Globe theatre. His company also performed regularly at the Blackfriars Theatre, especially in the winter. But they also performed in places other than theatres. They performed at least once at the palace before Queen Elizabeth, and many times at the palace before King James. The first performance of Twelfth Night we know of was at the law school auditorium. We also have records of performances in private houses for those rich enough to hire them. And also, when the theatres were closed due to plague, the company went on tour of the country towns and performed wherever they could including inn yards and guildhalls.


Who are movie theaters?

do you mean what are the movie theatres? because the movie theatres are a place where you go to watch movies before they come out on dvd.


What theatres is nightmare before Christmas playing at?

It depends on where you live.


Where did Shakespeare perform?

Primarily in London, England, and occasionally in the towns around, when plague caused the London theatres to be closed. He acted in a number of venues in London including the Palace, the Inns of Court, the Rose, Curtain, Newington Butts, Globe and Blackfriars theatres, and private homes.


How do you watch movies before they're on DVD?

In the movie theatres, of course.