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Question: What was it like to be an actor at Shakespeare's theater!?
This is for my English homework so please be as specific as possible! Links would be appreciated but are not necessary!.
Thanks ;)Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
First, the actors were basically the same whether they were playing in the Globe or the Blackfriars, Shakespeare's INDOOR theatre that was a restored dining hall in a Dominican monastery that Henry VIII had closed!.

Actors were expected to be able to memorize their lines quickly, sing, dance, fight, do some form of what we might consider "circus skills" -- tumbling, juggling, etc!., and they often had to provide their own costumes!. There was no such thing as a director, so the actors got together and figured out where they would make their entrances and exits from so as to best utilize the seven playing areas of Shakespeare's stage!. Verbal cues were written into the end lines of scenes so that other actors could clearly hear the end of a scene and come on quickly and seamlessly continue the action!.

However, actors were not well-respected!. Idolization of actors is only a 20th century thing!. Theatres were not allowed within the city limits proper of London, so had to be situated on the oppposite bank of the Thames!. The reasoning being that the kind of person who went to these kinds of events was not worth associating with and often dirty and unhealthy!. Actors were all male and when females were introduced into casts and traveled with casts on tours throughout the countryside, they were perceived as just short of whores who shared their quarters with a bunch of men!. Going to the theatre was an opportunity to be seen but it was not the sort of activity that most folks would actually engage in as a profession!. As theatre companies opened and folded with regularity, it was seen -- and often is -- as erratic work even into the present time!. And then there's John Wilkes Booth! He didn't do our occupation any favors either Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are no links to actors who played in Shakespeare's theatre because
1!. They are all dead
2!. The Bard never owned a theatre!.
Be that as it may, they did their best to remember the lines, tried not to bump into the furniture and generally got paid,
Not much has changed although dressing rooms are less drafty!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

They were most probably honored and they were all male, even the female characters!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ohh hang on let me go look up that date in my dieary!.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit!.

Fact!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

tough,I should imagine!Www@QuestionHome@Com

LOOK I MAY BE ONE OF THE OLDIES ON HERE BUT NOW YOU TAKING THE WHOOPS IEWww@QuestionHome@Com