THE GLOBE THEATRE

A. Listen carefully to the presentation of the Elizabethan theatre and the Globe Theatre.Answer the questions in note form.

1. When and where was the Gtobe Theatre erected?

2. Where were ptays performed before ptayhouses such as the Gtobe were buitt?

3. Name three other famous ptayhouses/theatres from that time.

4. What shape was the Gtobe Theatre? Describe its other features.

5. What was the trapdoor used for?

6. When did performances take ptace? Why?

7. Did actors use a tot of props (a prop=rekvizit)?

B. What was the scenery [ike?

9. Was there a curtain separating the front of the stage from the audience?

10. Who were fhe groundlingsT

11 . Was it possible to sit at the Gtobe Theatre?

12. Were theatre-goers attowed to eat during a performance?

13. Were there any actresses performing at the Gtobe Theatre?

14. What did ftags advertise?

15. What happened in 1613?

16. When was the Gtobe shut down?

f:ra:'*{,fi $} rux 6r\k {*i1** fwft4 lkt r,*fuit fil&e br *r' l; E, t*&*as1

These pictures show differentkinds of entertainment. Work inpairs and answer the questions.

1 Read this vocabulary anddecide which picture thewords could refer to.

a play the screen

an act a performance

a film a scene

the cast a star

an interval the stage

the curtain scenery

2 Ask each other these questions.

Which do you like best: the cinema, the theatre or a

different kind of entertainment? Why?

What is the most popular form of entertainment for youngpeople in your country?

HE GLOBETHEATREf oing to the theatre has been a popular1l pasrime for centuries. One of the mostfamous theatres in history was the GlobeTheatrein London, opened during the reign of Elizabeth l.

Wealthy people sat in the 'two-penny'galleries.

These were not really the best places to be

because (0)........4......... those days people

wore hats, often with huge feathers, which

blocked the (l)...................... of those

sitting behind them.

Members of the royal court sat in

the best l2 pence (2)......................

showing off their expensive clothes

and smoking tobacco.

Before (3)..................... the theatre,

people used to pay to get in by putting

money into a box, which was held by

one of the theatre staff.

With no lighting early theatres were

(4)...................... open in the middle to

let in daylight - and the rain! Getting soaked

was a risk you (5)...................... if you paid the

cheap entrance fee.

fu the actors were coming onto the stagg a trumpet sounded. A flag

was raised in the tower to show that the performance was starting and

it remained in position (5)...................... the performance ended.

About 30 years ago, the American actor and director SamWanamaker began a project to rebuild Shakespeare's ClobeTheatre in the same place as it used to be in the early1500s. The theatre is now finished.

Look at what the theatre was like all those years ago.Read the text and decide which answer Au B, C or Dbest fits each space.

Exomple: (0) A

L:lTh ink a bout wh-at' the m Dsing,words,m i ght,rn eaffi a$ d&what parts,of SpeeSh they.might:be befor,e you |ook alhe suggestions below Could the,y be pr:epoiiilonl

0A in

1 A sight

2 A seats

3 A going

4 A held

5 A took

6 A before

7 A among

8 A doing

9A all

1 0 A spectators

by

picture

chairs

entering

forced

had

while

in

making

whole

audience

C for

C scene

C benches

C arriving

C left

C put

C until

C around

C playing

C both

C viewers

D during

D view

D stools

D passing

D stopped

D made

D since

D betweenl

D being

D full

D group

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

Therewerenointervals(7)......................acts,sofoodwassoldduringthe

performance. Apples and nuts were popular. lf the audience did not like theplay or the cast they used to throw the cores and shells

at the actors on the stage.

Actors (B)...................... the

parts of ghosts and witches

crouched inside the area

beneath the stage. lrVhen

needed, they used to jump

out onto the stage through a

trapdoor.

The poorest theatre-goers

paid one penny to get in. They

watched the (9).................... .

play standing up in the yard.

Often 1,000 people squeezed in

to see a popular play.

The high stage was in the middle oI the yard.

Ihere was no curtain, which meant that at the end ofviolent plays the actors' bodies were carried off in full view of the(r0)...................... .

READING COMPREHENSION

a Read the article. Find two possible disadvantages

of watching aplay at the Globe Theatre.A.

Read the article again and answer the questions.

I When is the ticket office open?

2 Was the theatre built on the site of Shakespeare's originaltheatre?

3 Are there performances every day of the year?

4 Are all the tickets the same price?

5 Can you sit in the Yard?

6 Can you visit the theatre without seeing aplay?

7 How can you book a ticket?

8 What happens if it rains?

Underline five words you don t know. Use yourdictionary to look up their meaning and pronunciation.

A visit to Shakespeare's Globe TheatreThe Gtrbe &eatre is situated on the banls of tle River Tlrames, about

200 metres fiom the original site of Shakespeare's 15S building' It isa lbith&:] reconstruction of the open-airplayhouse where Shakespeare

worked, and for which he wrote $rany oI ht geate$t plays, $rch

as $amiet, Olhslls, and King tecr. Due to Qe fa* ttrat the theatre is

op* to &e sly, the s"asofliumtea to orrly six montls of th3 fear,runt,lg from april to october' Hows?er, Surded taurs of tle theatre

ae heil aU year round, asd the neighbouring exhibition eente is

also open to visitors.fhe *leatre itselfis circular ia shape aad the seated areas are ia the

lower, xriddle, and upper galleries. ln addition to the seated g,alleries,

there is an area in fmnt of the stage called fhe ford, where visitors can

stand and watch the play.All seats ar p!ce{ according to-visibility,so &e best seats are in tle miaap of each of the three galleries and

cost around €48. Ticket holders are advised to bear in mind thattle roof and all the galtery seats arc held up by pilkrs, so tb'at ftsmao seat is there a perfbct view of the stage. There are ?00 $tanding

tickts available fbr each performance priced at around €7.50, butvisitors are renrinded that under no circumstaaces aJe they allowed

to sit in this area.?ublic bookiag for each season opens in February- TickeE nay

be booked in person or by telephone at the t}ea& ticket office or

onli:re via the ticket agency, Seetickets. The tickt offiee is open from10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p-m. from Monday to Saturd€y. Befibre attendinga performance at tie Globe, visitors need to bear certain things inmina. as it is a sixteenth-century repliea, the theatre does not boxtany of the comfbrts of modern-day life and perfbrmances continue

whatever the weather. Ticket holders should come prepared forheat or cold, rain or shine, aithougb umbrellas are no] p*rnitted'IneNpensive rain mars can be purchased ftom tle Globe shop by tlosewhsae unluclry enoughto bi caught ia a downpounntheYard'

Source: Oxenden C. & Lothom-Koenig C. (2008). New Eng/ish File, Upper-intermediote Workbook, 43. OUP.

Fi.. REAIIruff

Read this text about one of Shakespeare's plays andfind out:

a the name of the play.

b the year in which the play was written.

c the name of the theatre where the roof collapsed.

ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffim,m ffiffiffiwwffiffiffi wffiffiffiffiffiw

murders until in the end an army rs sent 20

from EngLand and Ylacbeth is l<illed

Bad luck has been linked with the play

almost from the start.When the play

was put on for King James at HamPton

Court, the curse struck lmmediately"

One of the leading actors was suddenly

taken ill, and Shakespeare himself had

to play the part.Worse still, the King

was so upset by the violence that it was

immediately banned.

Read the text again. Choose the most suitableheading A-l for eachpart (1:7) of the article. A Voices of reason

There is one extra B Storms and protests

heading which you do C Royal disapproval

not need. There is an D A narrow escape

example at the E The slory of Macbethbeginning (0). F The wirches'spetr

G A da"k pasl

H Disasters on opening night

I The play rnat should not bemenl oned

One of the strangesl superstitionsamong$ acto's ard fllm-mal.ers is thaL

one of Shakespearei plays brings somuch bad luck rhat even to mentior its

name o'10 quote lines lrot it irsice a

theatre is sure to bring bad luck. lf itmust be discussed at all. ir snould be

called 'that play','Lhe Scottrsh play' o'even'shal.espeare's Sconisr tragedyl

1

The play is Macbeth, whlch was writlenand {.st oe4ormed in 1606. lt i: a darltragedy about royal ambitions. ln theplay. Ylacbeth meets th-ee wtlches whopredict that he will become king.Thisbecomes reality when he and his wife,Lady Macberl. carry ou1 lne m,.]rce. o-

the King while he is staying as a guest.

lYacbeth is then crowned King olScotland,This leads on to other

Nearly a hundred years later: in 1703,

the play was pedormed again,While itwas on. Ingrard had tne wors.hurricane in its history One and a half

thousand sailors dred, the city of Bristol

was destroyed and London was badlY

damaged. People said that this was

God's punishment, and all the theatres

were shut for a weel<.When the PlaY

was per-formed in 172 I , the audrence

rioted; the cast lought back with theirswords, and the army had to be called

in.

ln more recenttimes,there have been

many exampies of disasters that have

struck ln 1937, when Laurence Olivrer

was playing Macbeth, he caught a cold

and lost his voice a"d Lhe lrsrper{ormance had to be Put off lor a

week.When the play finally opened, theactress playing Lady Macbeth, was

rnlured on her way to the theatre.

Durrng the flrst week, a number ofother incrdents affected other members

ofthe cast and the audience.

5

The bad luck does not just atiect actorswho are in the olay itselr.Aryore even

reading the play aloud can suffer theconsequences. ln 1973, some aclorswere in the dressing room of theBa.f s,de LheaL.e dur,ng a per{orTnance

of Antony and Cleopatra. One of themread out a speech from Mocbeth to see

wh"r wo.ld happen. SuddenlT a sTorrn

blew up, and the rain poured down.Theelectricitv went off and the show was

stopped. The a-o e"ce h:rc iust elougrLime to get clear before the roolcollapsed, and the damage to thetheatre was so bad that it had to be

sh-r for the resl of tFe year.

Some actors and directors, however; do.ror oelieve Lhal there is arTa-hing

strange about the play and think thatthere is a simple explanation lor many

of the things that go wrong.There are a

lot of baLiles and murders rn tne play, a>

well as count'ess fights uP ard down

action tai<es place at night, the lighting is

often dim, so some accidents are boundro happen.

Others believe there ts a dtfferent'g356n fgr tnese strdnge h"ppen;ngs. ln

the opening scene, the witches cook up

a magic polion L.taT includes tngredienrs

sucn as a car's tail and a wol''s Looth,

But these ideas did not cone fro-n

Sh"Lesoea, es magin.t,on. I hey weretal<en {iom well-l<nown bool<s of spells.

ln using real spells, it is said thatShakespeare brought bad luck on thep'a) Lhdt has been wrlh tL over . n-e.

Paragraph 3 violent wind

Paragraph 4 the people watchinga play

Paragraph 5 fell down

60 :t::l

b5 1;

aE :i:

80 $.

63 t-

90 i.:

10

'15

[],,].,,,,.::,., ',,'.,1 ., .-:.,. .-Find w,ords or phrases in the textwhich mean:

Paragraph 0 beliefs that certain events can bringgood or bad luck

Paragraph 1 to say that something will happen

Paragraph 2 forbidden

2

3

6

0 I

4

7

Paragraph 6 not bright