-called this in honour of the current Queen (Queen Elizabeth I) -a period of great unrest in England concerning England's official religion -Queen Elizabeth declared that no plays could be about the current religious matters or portray current political figures -"Master of Revels" was the offical censor of all plays -the Queen had to approve all the plays that were performed in London -Queen Elizabeth liked Shakespeare's plays and gave him support and protection Acting Companies and Theatre Owners -theatres had to be licenced and acting companies had to be sponsored by a patron whose rank was no lower than a baron -Shakespeare was a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which was later known as the King's Men -playwrights wrote to depict life as it was and let the audiences draw their own conclusions - holding up a mirror to nature and entertaining -performances started at 2:00 to make the most of daylight -James Burbage created the first theatre in London in 1576, called "The Theatre" -when Shakespeare moved to London, he met with Burbage and became a promptor, then he became an actor, and later he became Burbage's star writer -Richard and Cuthbart Burbage opened "The Globe Theatre" in 1599 -Shakespeare produced most of his plays in the Globe and became part owner -Shakespeare was a very popular playwright in his day and other playwrights were jealous of his success -after 1603, Shakespeare had to write plays that would please the new King James I of Scotland (one of these is Macbeth ) -James I made theatre more widely acceptable in English culture and he contributed greatly to Shakespeare's sucess -theatres held 1500 - 3000 people -sanitary conditions were poor and diseases could pass around in theatres -theatre was not popular with local merchants because it took away from business -the Globe burned down in 1613 during a production of Henry VIII, but then rebuilt in 1614 -the theatre was open air and the stage was usually bare -a...
