According to William Baker, “the total theatrical closures due to the plague,” in the years
between 1603 and 1612
, “accumulated to a grand total of 78 months” (15).
How long were theaters closed during the plague?
A year or so before Shakespeare wrote “Romeo and Juliet,” a powerful
plague
struck London in 1593.
Theatres closed
for 14 months and 10,000 Londoners died, says Columbia University professor and author James Shapiro.
Did Theatres close during the plague?
Elizabethan theaters were frequently shuttered in London
during outbreaks of the bubonic plague, which claimed nearly a third of the city’s population. The official rule was that once the death rate exceeded thirty per week, performances would be canceled.
What years did the plague close down London Theatres?
In the decade
between 1603 and 1613
“the total theatrical closures due to the plague accumulated to a grand total of 78 months,” says William Baker in his book William Shakespeare. Indeed, the plague had a huge impact on Britain’s greatest playwright, according to former British Museum director Neil MacGregor.
What caused all the Theatres to close down in 1593 and 1594?
Plague
had posed an ongoing danger in England since before the time of Shakespeare’s birth, but a particularly devastating outbreak of the disease swept the country in 1593 and 1594. During especially intense epidemics, the Privy Council would exercise its authority as the queen’s advisors to close all public theaters.
Why did the Globe eventually close down?
Most of the Actors, including William Shakespeare, fled to the country during the outbreaks of
the Bubonic plague
. The next disaster which closed the Globe theatre was the fire of 1613. The Globe theatre fire accident occurred on 29 June 1613 and the original Globe burned to the ground.
Why did the Globe shut down?
On 29 June 1613, the Globe Theatre
went up in flames during a performance of Henry VIII
. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. … Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642.
Why did all the Theatres in London have to close at one point?
In September 1642,
just after the First English Civil War had begun
, the Long Parliament ordered the closure of all London theatres. The order cited the current “times of humiliation” and their incompatibility with “public stage-plays”, representative of “lascivious Mirth and Levity”.
How did the black plague affect the theater?
Given that the bubonic plague particularly decimated young populations, it may also have
wiped out Shakespeare’s theatrical rivals
—companies of boy actors who dominated the early-17th-century stage, and could often get away with more satiric, politically dicey productions than their older competitors.
How much of London’s population was killed?
London lost roughly
15%
of its population. While 68,596 deaths were recorded in the city, the true number was probably over 100,000. Other parts of the country also suffered.
How did the plague affect Romeo and Juliet?
As a result,
Romeo commits suicide
so he can die by his wife’s side, and Juliet follows suit. Therefore, the plague severely influences Friar Laurence’s plans and results in the real deaths of both Romeo and Juliet.
How long did the plague last?
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Afro-Eurasia
from 1346 to 1353
.
What did it cost to see a Shakespeare play?
The most expensive seats would have been in the ‘Lord’s Rooms’. Admission to the
indoor theatres started at 6 pence
. One penny was only the price of a loaf of bread.
Who was the queen during Shakespeare’s time?
Elizabeth I
and Shakespeare
When Shakespeare was born in 1564, Elizabeth had been Queen of England for just 5 years.
What is Shakespeare’s longest play?
The longest play is
Hamlet
, which is the only Shakespeare play with more than thirty thousand words, and the shortest is The Comedy of Errors, which is the only play with fewer than fifteen thousand words. Shakespeare’s 37 plays have an average word count of 22.6 thousand words per play.
