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The story about coloured flags at the Globe Theatre is as follows: White meant that a comedy was playing that night. (Or rather, that day. In Elizabethan times, public performances were not held at night. They started at around 2:00 in the afternoon.) Red meant a historic play was on, like "Henry V". Black meant a tragic play would be viewed.

The problem with this story was that the playwrights themselves did not sort all their plays into comedies, histories and tragedies. A number of the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher were called tragicomedies--what colour flag would they fly then? There does not seem to be any contemporary account of the coloured flags story (They had flags all right, but the contemporary accounts do not mention colour.)

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What flag is the taming of the shrew by William shakespeare?

If you are alluding to the idea that the Globe Theatre flew different colour flags depending on the kind of play, the Taming of the Shrew is a comedy which is associated with the white flag.


What does the white flag mean above Shakespeare's Globe?

The white flag above Shakespeare's Globe means a comedy play is being performed


What does the black flag above Shakespeare's globe theatre mean?

the black flag means muff


What flew to the top of the theatre to show the play was on in Shakespeare's time?

In Shakespeare's time, a signal flew to the top of the theatre to indicate that the play was about to begin. This signal was known as a flag or banner. It was usually made of brightly colored cloth and was usually either hung from a pole or carried by a person. The flag was an important part of the theatrical experience; its appearance announced the arrival of the performance and indicated that the audience should take their seats. In some Elizabethan playhouses, the flag was raised by hand on a pole and then lowered just before the play began. In other theatres, a flag was hoisted to the top of the building on a rope or chain. In addition to being a signal for the start of the show, the flag also served to advertise the play. It was often decorated with a design related to the play, such as a scene from the production or the name of the play itself. The banner was usually displayed prominently in front of the theatre, where passersby could easily see it. The flag was an important part of the theatrical experience in Shakespeare's time and was a way to make the theatre more exciting and inviting. It was a way to draw people in from the streets and entice them to come in and see the show.


What significance did color have in the theater during Shakespeare's time?

There is a legend that the colour of the flag raised over the theatre told potential customers what kind of play would be performed. The problem is that the plays did not fit neatly into categories, and they knew it. Shakespeare mocks the categorization of plays with Polonius's line "the best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral". There does not appear to be any contemporaneous account on which the coloured flag legend is based, and it is likely a later invention. Apart from that, the costumes used were very colourful, but that did not usually have significance, unless the characters were wearing black as a sign of mourning (as Hamlet does, and Lady Anne in Richard III).

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