Elizabethan Actors

Elizabethan Theater Actors - the Superstars of the Elizabethan Theater. The famous actors who
brought the plays and their plots to life. Edward Alleyn, Henry Condell, William Shakespeare,
Richard Burbage and John Hemmings were probably the most famous of all Elizabethan actors.
What were their lives like? How much money did they make? How many plays did they perform
in each month? What did they do in the Winter months?

The Reputation of Elizabethan actors

The reputation of the early Elizabethan Actors was not good. Many were viewed as Rogues and
Vagabonds. Actors were not trusted. Travelling Elizabethan Actors were considered such a
threat that that regulations were imposed and licenses were granted to the aristocracy for the
maintenance of troupes of players. Actors would be asked for these credentials - they were
treated with suspicion!

Plays were regulated. Plays were subject to censorship - the content of plays was checked to
ensure that they did not contain political or religious elements which might threaten the state.
Elizabethan plays were often bawdy and the audiences were rowdy.

The Lifestyle of Elizabethan actors

The popularity of the Elizabethan theater increased enormously. The standing of Elizabethan
Actors improved when the purpose-built theaters were introduced. A play could attract as
many as 3000 people to the theater and the Elizabethan actors were the equivalent of today's
superstars.

Many of the major Elizabethan Actors became stake holders in the theaters and became
wealthy men. They mixed with the nobility and played before royalty.
Elizabethan actors and the Amphitheaters

The huge amphitheaters such as the Globe Theater were built on a similar design to the great
Roman arena's. This helped to give the theater a more acceptable reputation by drawing
comparisons to the great classic plays of the Greeks and Romans. The sheer size of the
amphitheatres drew in the audiences and the cash. They were built in a lavish style and
provided exciting visual effects, using ropes for flying entrances, trap doors for surprising
entrances and exits. There was a constant demand for new plays and a high turnover of
different plays. There was little time for rehearsals. There was one problem with the
Elizabethan amphitheater - it was open to the elements and therefore only suitable for winter
performances. It was not long before enclosed theaters were built - the playhouses.

Elizabethan actors and the Playhouses

The playhouses provided Elizabethan actors with enclosed venues so they were able to stage
plays in the winter as well as the summer - more money. The downturn to the popularity of the
plays and the crowds that they attracted were the frequent outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague.
When there was such an outbreak the theaters were closed down. The Elizabethan Actors often
left the towns for the comparative safety of the country in these frightening periods.

Elizabethan Actors - the Female Roles

During the Elizabethan era only men were allowed to act in the theatre until 1660 - it was
judged to be unseemly for a woman to undertake such a role. Young boys were therefore hired
to act in the female roles. The white make-up used by young male Elizabethan actors was lead
based and highly poisonous. The young boy actors were therefore very unhealthy, had
unpleasant facial skin diseases and a high proportion actually died of lead poisoning.

The Theatrical Costumes worn by Elizabethan Actors

Elizabethan clothing of the Upper Class was sumptuous. The materials were luxurious and
covered a whole variety of colors. Due to the Statutes of Apparel (The Sumptuary Laws )
ordinary Elizabethans were not able to wear the latest fashions. Fashionable clothes would only
be seen at a distance, when wealthy nobles or Royalty were in view. Elizabethan actors were
granted special permission to wear these fine clothes. Costumes in the Elizabethan Theatre
would therefore double as a fashion show. All people of the Elizabethan period understood the
meaning of different colored clothing - a concept somewhat alien in our modern age. Most of
us would recognise that purple had been the color associated with royalty since the days of the
Roman Emperors - but nearly every color of clothing had its own meaning during the
Elizabethan era. And this meaning was totally understood by the audience. The colors of the
costumes therefore conveyed an enormous amount of information as soon as the actor walked
on to the stage. The types of materials and fabrics would have had a similar effect. Many of the
plays had historical themes featuring the royalty and nobles of the land. As soon as an actor
walked on the stage the fabric and color of his clothing would indicate the role of the character
he was playing - Elizabethan Nobles and Upper classes wore clothing made of velvets, furs, silks,
lace, cottons and taffeta.

The Elizabethan Theatre - Elizabethan Theatre Audiences

The Elizabethan Theatre Audiences attracted people from all classes - the Upper Class nobility
and the Lower class commoners.

The popularity of the theater reached people from all walks of life - from Royalty to the Nobility
and the Commoners. What was a day out at the Elizabethan theater like for the audiences?
Where did they sit? How much did it cost? What did they eat? What were the amenities like?
How did illiterate members of the public know what plays were being presented?

London Theatregoers - The London play goers loved the Theatre. It was their opportunity to see
the great plays and each other.

Elizabethan Audience Capacity - the theatres could hold 1500 people and this number
expanded to 3000 with the people who crowded outside the theatres

Royalty - Queen Elizabeth I loved watching plays but theses were generally performed in indoor
playhouses for her pleasure. She would not have attended the plays performed at the
amphitheatres
The Nobles - Nobles would have paid for the better seats in the Lord's rooms paying 5d for the
privilege

The Commoners called the Groundlings or Stinkards would have stood in the theatre pit and
paid 1d entrance fee. They put 1 penny in a box at the theatre entrance - hence the term 'Box
Office'

The Box Office - the prices were determined by the comfort of the seats

Special effects were also a spectacular addition at the Elizabethan theaters thrilling the
audiences with smoke effects, the firing of a real canon, fireworks (for dramatic battle scenes)
and spectacular 'flying' entrances from the rigging in the 'heavens'. Flags, Crests and Mottos -
Advertising - Flags were erected on the day of the performance which sometimes displayed a
picture advertising the next play to be performed. Colour coding was used to advertise the type
of play to be performed - a black flag meant a tragedy , white a comedy and red a history. A
crest displaying Hercules bearing the globe on his shoulders together with the motto "Totus
mundus agit histrionem" ( the whole world is a playhouse ) was displayed above the main
entrance of the Globe Theater. This phrase was slightly re-worded in the William Shakespeare
play As You Like It - "All the world’s a stage" which was performed at the Globe Theater.

The Globe Theatre audiences

The Elizabethan general public (the Commoners) referred to as groundlings would pay 1 penny
to stand in the 'Pit' of the Globe Theater. The gentry would pay to sit in the galleries often using
cushions for comfort. Rich nobles could watch the play from a chair set on the side of the Globe
stage itself. Theatre performances were held in the afternoon, because, of course, there was
limited artificial lighting. Men and women attended plays, but often the prosperous women
would wear a mask to disguise their identity. The plays were extremely popular and attracted
vast audiences to the Elizabethan Theatres. There were no toilet facilities and people relieved
themselves outside. Sewage was buried in pits or disposed of in the River Thames. The
audiences only dropped during outbreaks of the bubonic plague, which was unfortunately an all
too common occurrence during the Elizabethan era. This happened in 1593, 1603 and 1608
when all Elizabethan theatres were closed due to the Bubonic Plague (The Black Death).