What was it like watching a play by Shakespeare?

Answer 1

Since Shakespeare's plays have been performed almost continuously for over 400 years, many millions of people have had the experience of watching a Shakespeare play performed. Every experience has been different, because not only is every production different, every performance is different, if only slightly. Speaking personally, I have seen Shakespeare plays performed in many different kinds of venues: in a tent, in a park, in a large proscenium-style theatre, in a large theatre with a thrust stage, in the reconstructed Globe from the second balcony, in a theatre-in-the-round, on the roof of an office building, in a tiny theatre where the actors were within touching distance of the audience. I have seen them performed by school students, amateurs, university students, professionals and well-known stars. I have seen very avante-garde productions, modern-dress productions, Elizabethan imitations, productions aimed at kids and Victorian pageants. I have seen productions with elaborate scenery and productions with no scenery whatsoever. And I am only one person, living in the twentieth and twentifirst centuries. So in order to answer your question, what you must do is go and watch a Shakespeare play being performed. Do this as soon as you can. Start your own collection of Shakespearian production experiences.