London 2: A Penny for the Yard

What was it like to watch one of Shakespeare's plays in the 1600s? Join Ben Crystal on his visit to Shakespeare's Globe, a reproduction of the original Globe Theatre in London.

Transcript

In Shakespeare's time this area of London was not only home to actors and theatre-goers. Southwark was a rough, dangerous and fairly lawless part of the city.

It's now home to a more modern and rich London. But something of Shakespeare has been kept alive. Just down the road from the original foundations there is a recreation of Shakespeare's Globe, built in the mid 1990s.

Ben: How similar is it to the one that was here 400 years ago?

Dr Farah Karim-Cooper: Well, in terms of the architectural features they were very similar, like the shape of the theatre, the fact that the stage thrusts out into the yard, the fact that there is a stage roof which they used to call the heavens. It has an upper stage balcony, musicians' gallery, the three doors where actors come in and exit, the trapdoor in the stage as well as the trapdoor in the roof, all of those things were features that were in Shakespeare's original theatre in 1599.

The materials of the building would have inspired his work. Sometimes there's references in his plays to thatch and to the wooden dialogue of the actors' shoes on the stage. Those types of technologies, those special effects in the theatres, would have inspired scenes where gods are being lowered from the heavens. Those types of things were written into Shakespeare's plays.

Ben: What were the audience in Shakespeare's time like that came to see his plays here?

Farah: The audiences were wide-ranging. They came from all social classes. Because it only cost a penny to come into the yard and stand you would have had the working classes, you know, the butchers and the tailors, but also the higher up you go in the galleries the higher the class, and if you pay six pence, which is the most amount you could pay, you would sit in these beautifully painted gentlemen’s rooms very comfortably.

We have a wide range of audiences from all over the world now, because Shakespeare has such an extraordinary global appeal.  It's the magic of his storytelling.

Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and over 150 poems, which are still enjoyed today.

And whilst we can get an understanding of what Shakespeare's life must have been like in London and how much the city inspired him, I believe his works only truly come alive when they are held in the heart, spoken out loud, wherever you are in the world.

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Discussion

Language level

Average: 5 (2 votes)
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Submitted by bunasilbirinsan on Thu, 25/01/2024 - 18:57

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I have been a few theatre plays on this time, and I would say there was not good. Perhaps it is about the quailty of the plays, however they was looking unnatural, you could feel the cheesiness of the plays. So, I prefer movies most of the times. It looks more natural, more realistic and more exciting. On the other hand, Opera is different for me, I love operas as much as movies. With the impact of the music, the performance become incredible to watch. Of course, I really want to watch a Shakespeare play at London, it would be whole different experince most probably.

Submitted by HenryHtut on Sat, 23/09/2023 - 15:20

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The new Globe Theatre is in the same place as the old one.
Isn't that supposed to be true?
In the transcript, Ben: How similar is it to the one that was here 400 years ago?

Hello HenryHtut,

Ben's question is about the architecture of the building (i.e. its structure and layout), not about its location. Just before the part where Ben and Dr Karim-Cooper speak, he says:

Just down the road from the original foundations there is a recreation of Shakespeare's Globe, built in the mid 1990s.

'just down the road' means 'a short distance on the same road'. So while the new Globe is on the same road, it's not in the same exact place.

Does that make sense?

All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

Submitted by Evgeny N on Mon, 21/10/2019 - 13:59

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Dear sirs! There is a mistake in the transcript. In transcript in the 5th paragraph it is written: The materials of the building would have inspired his work. Sometimes there’s references in his plays to thatch and to the wooden dialogue of the actors’ shoes on the stage. You also find the trapdoors, those types of technologies, those special effects in the theatres, would have inspired scenes where gods are being lowered from the heavens. In the video Dr Farah Karim-Cooper doesn't say words: You also find the trapdoors. The transcript has to be next: The materials of the building would have inspired his work. Sometimes there’s references in his plays to thatch and to the wooden dialogue of the actors’ shoes on the stage. Those types of technologies, those special effects in the theatres, would have inspired scenes where gods are being lowered from the heavens.

Hello Evgeny N

Thanks very much for telling us about this! I'll fix it as soon as I can.

Best wishes

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Néstor Serrano on Thu, 12/07/2018 - 18:40

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Like the speaker says: In this place of London, there was a rich and poor people, then this is a clue about the price, a penny, but, how much it was a penny for this century? I am refering about the life cost of the England citizens at this historical time. By the other side, there's not many safe places in this country and the theatre offered to the people a safest place than others because the number of viewers that surely was in this site.