New
New
Year 7

Comparing the Shakespearean theatre experience with modern theatre

I can understand and compare attitudes towards the theatre.

New
New
Year 7

Comparing the Shakespearean theatre experience with modern theatre

I can understand and compare attitudes towards the theatre.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Shakespeare’s plays were performed at the Globe, which was and still is playing, at the South Bank in London
  2. The South Bank was full of improper activities, such as animal fighting, drinking and the theatre
  3. Some people, particularly Puritans, thought the theatre was immoral
  4. Going to the Globe in Shakespeare’s time would have been a noisy, riotous affair
  5. Going to the theatre now is different because the audience is much more polite and quiet

Common misconception

That the modern experience of going to the theatre is the same as in Shakespearean times.

The experience was very different - the modern theatre experience is quiet and respectful while the Shakespearean experience was riotous.

Keywords

  • Theatre - A theatre is a building where people can watch a performance or other kind of entertainment.

  • Improper - Improper means something unsuitable or socially unacceptable.

  • Riotous - Something riotous is something very loud and uncontrolled, and full of energy.

  • Puritan - A puritan is a person who is strict in moral or religious matters, often excessively so.

  • Immoral - Something immoral is something outside of society's standards of acceptable, honest, and moral behaviour.

You could show the pupils clips from theatre performances to contextualise their understanding of what going to the theatre looks like.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Shakespeare wrote in which two centuries?
15th
Correct answer: 16th
Correct answer: 17th
18th
Q2.
While Shakespeare was writing, which two monarchs were on the throne?
Correct answer: Elizabeth I
Elizabeth II
Henry III
Charles I
Correct answer: James I
Q3.
What does setting refer to in literature?
People and places.
Correct answer: Time and place.
Adjectives and adverbs.
Front cover and blurb.
Q4.
Which of the following appear in Shakespeare plays?
Correct answer: Romeo
Correct answer: Juliet
Correct answer: Macbeth
Scrooge
Napoleon
Q5.
What is the proper term for people in plays?
Persons
Correct answer: Characters
Men and women
Directors
Q6.
What is dialogue?
Correct answer: The words spoken by characters.
The plot of a story.
The message of a story.

6 Questions

Q1.
What was the name of Shakespeare's theatre company?
Correct answer: The Chamberlain's Men.
Shakespeare's Men.
The Elizabethan Men.
Q2.
Where was Shakespeare's theatre built?
Correct Answer: On the South Bank of the River, South bank , southbank
Q3.
When the Globe theatre was full, how many people would be there?
Correct Answer: 3000, Three thousand, 3,000
Q4.
What would be the best word to describe people who are being loud and disruptive?
Correct answer: Riotous
Improper
Puritan
Q5.
What was the main reason the Puritans closed down the theatres in 1642?
Correct answer: They thought the theatre was immoral.
They thought the theatre distracted people from work.
They didn't like people leaving the city.
Q6.
The design for Shakespeare's Globe theatre was based on entertainment spaces for which type of entertainment? Name two.
Correct answer: bull baiting
bear baiting
Correct answer: bear fighting
bull fighting