Theatres were open arenas or playhouses (structures made mainly from wood) that had room for up to 3000 people. The theatre normally had a stage that was higher and an open pit below for the audience to stand in. The space didn't allow for any roofing so the actors would not be sheltered if it rained nor was there any heating. The scenery was non existent as the belief was that the acting was the most important thing about the play, they helped with the visual of the play by wearing colourful costume that would tell the audience the status of the character.
During the first years of Elizabeths reign, the most popular venues for theatre where inns, inn yards, halls and private houses. In 1576 the first Theatre was built in Shoreditch by James Burbage he was an English actor and manager. In 1580 Shakespeare joined the resident troupe at that Theatre.
The roles in plays were taken on only by boys and men as women were not allowed until 1660 to perform in public theatres. The women parts would be played by young boys who hadn’t hit puberty yet, this allowed them to adapt a higher pitched voice, and older women were occasionally played by men. The process of becoming an actor was quite hard, young boys would start of as apprentices and learn the craft from the senior actors within the company, the actors were expected to have skills such as singing and dancing, a good memory and the ability to sword fight. The actors if they had time would rehearse in the morning before their performance in the afternoon, plays happened in the afternoon because there was no lighting or technical aid so they had to rely on natural light to be seen by the audience. Actors did not have much time for rehearsals as most would be juggling many different parts at the same time.
Wealth controlled the size of the companies, a wealthy company ranged from 8-12 senior sharers ( sharers in a company earned more than the hired men, they shared the cost and profits made generated from the company), 3-4 boys and a good number of hired men, these companies would also have stage hands, dressers and in some cases musicians. Most of these theatre companies were based in London and would be situated in permanent theatres. These companies would sometimes tour when there was cause for the theatre to close such as spread of the plague, and would travel mainly around England although companies did travel abroad also to places such as Netherlands and Germany.
The amount of money received by actors depended mainly on where they were situated, if they were situated in London the pay would be greater as the city was a busy place and generated a popularity in the theatre scene. Theatres in the country were not as popular therefore their actors had lower pay than the actors working in London. The actor William Kendall was paid 10 shillings a week in London and 5 shillings when he acted in the country.
Actors started to become recognised and typecast, a few actors even had roles written specifically for them. Shakespeare clown Dogberry, in Much Ado About Nothing, was written for Willian Kemp an actor who was very good at physical comedy, Shakespeare also wrote characters for other actors to, the fool in King Lear was written to be played by Robert Armin, who focused on a witty way of delivering lines rather than slapstick.
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