by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: November 04, 2008   Last Updated: September 27, 2010

Theatre in Shakespeare's time was very different to the theatre we know off today. Today, we sit in comfort at theatres, safe in the knowledge that the actors would have all learned their lines to the best of their ability. Back in the days of William Shakespeare though,things where very different  The plays were very last minute affairs and, in fact, some actors only received their lines just before they were due to appear before the baying and cheering audience. Indeed some of the actors even received their lines whilst they were actually on stage.

How did they know what to say, for they were not reading from a script?

In fact, they used a system called 'Cue Acting'. This would have meant somebody sitting behind the curtain whispering the lines to the actors. From this technique it led to another system called 'Cue Scripting'. This meant that the actors taking part in the play received only their lines and not the script for the whole play. Obviously this was because they were working under a time schedule. There was very little time for the actors to learn what they had to say, so 'Cue Scripting' was the 'norm'. It has to be said, that there were no female actors during the time of Shakespeare. Indeed, the roles of women had to be played by boys {who had not gone through puberty}. Obviously this was because they would have had higher voices - and would sound feminine.

The Globe Theatre {or to give it its full title: 'Shakespeare's Globe Theatre', which was designed in 1599}, was the theatre which Shakespeare wrote many of his famous plays for. This theatre {which is a reconstruction of the actual Globe from 1599, based in London} had a unique relationship with its audience. The building was actually owned by the actors themselves {who also happened to be shareholders of the theatre}.

The rich and the not so rich flocked to see the plays at the Globe, in fact, all manner of society would go. The young and the old, male and female would mingle together {not least because of the variety of the plays that were on offer}. There was something for everybody. Those watching the plays had a choice of seating available to them. If you paid to stand during the whole of the play you would be classed as a 'groundling'. Groundlings would stand around the stage, booing or cheering along with the rest of the audience. If one found themselves with a bit of money to spare, then they would maybe choose to watch the plays from the galleries. Indeed, an extra penny would

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