Audiences4

=**__Globe Theater__**= == WHO WERE THEATRE-GOERS IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND? WHAT WAS AN AUDIENCE LIKE IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND? WHAT WAS A THEATRE-GOING EXPERIENCE LIKE FOR NOBILITY, MERCHANT CLASS, AND COMMONERS?

In Shakespeare's England, theater was a very big part of leisure activities. At the Globe, every social class would attend the productions. The lower class, or the groundlings, would pay 1 penny to watch the plays, and with that penny they would have a seat on the ground or "the pit" of the theater, which was on the ground level of the theater, directly in front of the stage. The Gentry, or the middle class, would pay to sit in the side galleries and were given chairs and cushions unlike "the pit". Finally, the rich nobles would pay to sit on the side of the stage itself. The theater brought many different classes together at a time when the classes did not ordinarily mingle. The level of education ranged greatly at these social events, from the illiterate to intellectuals.

The audience in Shakespeare's England was much more lively, even obnoxious, than the audiences of theater today. The most boisterous members of the audience were the groundlings. Many were just as interested in what was happening on the stage as off the stage. One of Shakespeare's contemporaries noted that "you will see such heaving and shoving, such itching and shouldering to sit by the women, such care for their garments that they be not trod on . . . such toying, such smiling, such winking, such manning them home ... that it is a right comedy to mark their behavior." The Gentry and rich nobles would not act as unruly as the groundlings, and would and try to focus on the play, but in some cases they would also be distracted by the actions and antics of the groundlings.

**Sources** Alchin, Lindat. "Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." Elizabethan Era. N.p., March 20, 2008. Web. 29 Mar 2010. .

Alchin, Lindat. "Globe Theatre." Globe Theatre Audience. N.p., March 20, 2008. Web. 29 Mar 2010. .

Crisp, Peter. Welcome to The Globe. London: DK Publishing, 2000. Print.

Forward, Toby. Shakespeares Globe. Cambrige, MA: Candle Wick Press, 2005. Print. Sources