Day 1: Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance

The course of study for us teachers is three part: the study of theater, the study of performance, and education (reflection on how our performance translates to the classroom). Our first session has been the history of Shakespeare's Globe in Southwark as well as the history of the original theater.

Contrary to what most English teachers tell their students, the groundlings probably did not throw fruit and vegetables at the actors: the costumes were too elaborate and costly to allow that; and the audience members who paid a penny were too poor to waste food. Note: the groundlings were so called because they stood on the ground to watch the play, also because of a German word for a fish that keeps it mouth open. These penny-paying theater goers must have looked like open-mouthed fish as they reacted with shock, wonder, and laughter to the performance.

The theater looks older to me. I was here in 1998 and again in 1999. Of course, even though the oak looks older, oak gets stronger as it ages (so we are told by the guide) - so only the thatch roof need to be changed every ten years. This building is the only building in London that has a thatch roof. (In Shakespeare's Day, many such roofs existed.) The first Globe was destroyed because a misfired cannon spark hit the thatch roof instead of aiming for the Thames River.

This photo views the Thames River from the Globe's steps. St. Paul's Cathedral is seen just across the river.