Elizabethan & Jacobean Theatre

Elizabethan & Jacobean Theatre (1562 – 1625)

In the Elizabethan & Jacobean times perforamnces would be performed in private London Inns, they would be held either inside the inns or in some sort of yard and it would usually have a capacity of 500 people which was rather impressive size for a performance, especially for this time period.

The Playhouse

Would usually store up to 500 people and was usually hosted during Winter periods or in the evening. The perks of performing in a place like this is that you would have good acoustics which was good for any music that was played in the venue. Also if you were watching a performance you would be served any food and drinks so that you could feel more comfy when watching a performance.

Stage and Costume

For the staging the classic type was the proscenium arch. It was rather different as when there was a scene change there was no blackouts so this meant that if you were performing someone would have to move set whilst you were finishing of a scene and then you would just have to continue acting until the act finished or if the play was at it’s end. And also there was a big fuss about who could be a performer and Woman were not allowed to participate in any type of theatre or acting.

Famous Play writes

William Shakespeare – Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet

Christopher Marlowe - Jew of Malta

This era of theatre began just as Medieval Theatre ended due to churches took control and ended up banning theatre.  The Elizabethan & Jacobean Theatre came to an end when Elizabeth I and James VI passed away. There was no next monarch left to run the country and was taken over by government.