Where did shakespeare perform his first plays?

Answer 1

Since we know that Shakespeare's plays were being performed as early as 1592 and the Globe Theater was not built until 1599, we know that it was not in the Globe Theatre. It might have been in James Burbage's Theatre, but it could just as easily have been in one of the other theatres, if it was performed by another group of actors.

We do not even know what Shakespeare's "first play" was, or whether it was ever performed. It might have been so bad that it got chucked out without ever having been acted.

Answer 2

Different ones, depending on the play. Some of them were probably first performed at court or at a private house and not at a theatre at all. Twelfth Night is thought to have been performed first at the Law School. Some people think A Midsummer Night's Dream was first performed for someone's wedding.

Do not think that all of Shakespeare's plays made their debut at the Globe Theatre. The Globe Theatre was not built until 1599, by which time Shakespeare had been writing plays for about 10 years. Many of his well-known plays including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV, Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice had been performed long before the Globe was built.

By the same token, some of the later plays may have had their first performance at the Blackfriars theatre rather than the Globe.

Answer 3

We cannot even be sure that Shakespeare did take a part in his earliest plays, since we are not sure what company he belonged to at that stage of his life, and whether it was the company who bought the plays from him. Henry VI Part 2 was probably presented by Lord Strange's Men at the Rose in 1592. Likewise Titus Andronicus was played there by Sussex's Men, but the Quarto version of the play says that it had also been performed by Pembroke's and Derby's Men. Probably Shakespeare was working with one or another of these companies at the time, but whether they were at the Rose Theatre, or another of the London theatres of the time such as the Curtain, at the innyard theatres or on tour of the countryside we cannot be sure.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, due to your dubious command of written English, your question is ambiguous. Here are answers to some of the possible questions which I am guessing that you may have meant.

1. "In what theatre were Shakespeare's plays first performed?" In a number of theatres, and some of them were probably first performed not in a theatre at all, but at court or in a private home.

2. "In what theatre was Shakespeare's first play performed?" Unknown, for two reasons. First, we don't know which one play was Shakespeare's first. Second, because we do not know for sure where any of his plays premiered, especially his early plays.

3. "In what theatre did Shakespeare first perform plays?" Unknown, since we do not know for sure when or with what company he first started acting.

4. "What theatre company first performed Shakespeare's plays?" One of Lord Strange's, Lord Sussex's or Lord Pembroke's. These are the companies who are listed as having played Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. If another play was earlier, it was probably played by one of these three.

Answer 5

There are very few records of when the specific plays were premiered. One of them, and this is ambiguous, is the record in Henslowe's Diary that Lord Strange's Men, performing at the Rose Theatre, performed a new play on March 3, 1592 called "harey vi" which we think was probably one of Shakespeare's Henry VI plays. A clearer example is a record of Lord Sussex's Men, playing a winter season at the Rose in early 1594, introducing a new play called "titus & ondronicus" on January 23. This is almost certainly Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.

Apart from these two early premieres at the Rose, we do have records of contemporary performances of Shakespeare's plays over the rest of his career, but no indications of whether these performances were premieres. From the formation of the Lord Chamberlain's Men in the summer of 1594, Shakespeare wrote only for his company, so we can focus on the places the Chamberlain's Men performed. Henslowe's Diary tells us that no new Shakespeare plays were performed while the newly formed company was sharing Newington Butts Theatre with the Admiral's Men from June 1594 to May 1595. Places where other Shakespeare plays may have premiered are:

• The Theatre, constructed in 1576, which was the home of the Chamberlain's Men from May 1595 to the winter of 1596.
• The Curtain playhouse, constructed in 1577, which was their home from the beginning of 1597 to the fall of 1599 when the Globe was ready for use.
• The Globe Theatre, after autumn 1599 to its destruction by fire at a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII on June 29, 1613. This might possibly have been a premiere.
• The Blackfriars Theatre, at which the King's Men started performing in 1609 during the winter season.
• The Court of Queen Elizabeth I between 1594 and 1603. Records of court performances for the Queen are thin, but clearly some of Shakespeare's plays were performed for the Queen, including Love's Labour's Lost. Performances at court usually took place in the Christmas season.
• The Court of James I after 1603. James, being the actual patron of the company, had regular performances especially at Christmas, and often of Shakespeare's plays. It is not known if they were premieres.
• Private houses. Love's Labour's Lost was performed at a private house in 1605, although it was probably written ten years or more earlier.
• The Inns of Court. Law students loved plays and special performances were set up in the halls belonging to the Law Schools. Twelfth Night was known to be performed February 2, 1602 at such a venue, and this might have been a premiere, or not.

Since we have other clues to the dates of the plays we can in most cases eliminate some of these possibilities. For example, the script of Romeo and Juliet was first published in 1597 and says on the title page that it had been performed by Lord Hunsdon's servants aka The Lord Chamberlain's Men. If it premiered at a public theatre, it could not have been at the Globe or Blackfriars, but must have been at the Theatre or Curtain. If it was premiered at court, it must have been at Queen Elizabeth's and not King James's.

Answer 6

The Globe Theater, The Theatre, The Curtain and the Blackfriars Theatre. Some also premiered at private performances and at court.

Answer 7

globe theater