SHAKESPEARE’S STAGES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 699, 26 June 1929, Page 11

SHAKESPEARE’S STAGES

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE CONSTRUCTION LECTURE AT UNIVERSITY An account of the structural details and evolution of the Elizabethan theatre was given by Professor C. W. Egerton last evening as the third of a series of lectures entitled “Shakespeare and His Times.’’ Professor Egerton explained that no contemporary writer had left us any detailed description of the theatre of the time and it was only in recent years that careful research work had resulted in the discovery of a number of documents which threw some light on the question. On the other hand we possessed quite detailed descriptions of the staging of the miracle and morality plays and such early types of the diama, which were usually controlled by the trade guilds of the time, he said. The professor described the staging of these primitive plays and the methods by which the actors and producers obtained their “effects.” The earliest miracle plays were acted in the churches and the players moved about from place to place as the scene was supposed to change.

This method lasted until the 17th century, there being records of a play produced in this manner in France several years after Shakespeare’s death.

From the groups of guildsmen who gathered to act miracle plays there were gradually formed regular companies of strolling players. Frequently they had difficulty in finding accommodation and would give their performances in the halls of noblemen or in the yard of some inn. These places had great influence on the shape of the theatres which were built later. There was considerable municipal opposition to these public performances on various grounds and finally a joiner named Burbridge, in 1576, built the first theatre just outside the boundaries of the City of London. The lecturer demonstrated by means of slides the evolution of the modern stage from the old, eurtained-off backstage and also showed portraits of many of the famous actors who were members of Shakespeare's company.