#burbage

CONDELL: It played, but it was hokey. Whenever the Ghost was all, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murther,” Burbage would crack up. He couldn’t stay in character.

BURBAGE: “Murther!” (chuckles)

Lost London: The Theatre

In 1572 the Mayor and Corporation of London banned all plays, as a means of dissuading strangers from gathering in crowds and thus spreading plague. Whilst this may seem similar to the social distancing measures and closure of many arts venues in 2020, things went a step further in 1575, when all players were formally banned from the City. This led to the construction of theatres outside of the jurisdiction of London, with building of the very first permanent theatre, and therefore recipient of the definitive article, starting in Shoreditch in 1576 by James Burbage.

No complete records of The Theatre’s appearance survive, though it is known to have been a timber frame with a tiled roof, be polygonal in its footprint (probably an octagon), and had three galleries surrounding an open yard and a thrust stage. For the price of a penny, attendees would have watched plays standing in the yard, whilst extra pennies would allow admittance to the galleries, and the option of a stool for sitting down.

The Theatre played host to a number of acting companies, including Leicester’s Men, of which James Burbage was a member, followed by the Admiral’s Men, to which James’s son Richard belonged, and later the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, for whom Richard Burbage was the lead actor, and also had in their employ one William Shakespeare as poet, playwright and actor. Many of Shakespeare’s earlier plays had their début at The Theatre.

Professor Charity "I do not believe phone do not work at Hogwarts.. I was so excited to show the students" Burbage

Taken by Sybil "oh, Charity, why would you need to call anyone, if you can just... Predict what they want to tell you" Trelawney in 1994