“The Globe had a Latin motto: Totus mundus agit histrionem. It was a translation of one of Shakespeare's most famous lines: ‘All the world's a stage’ (As You Like It, 2.7.147). The line can also be translated as ‘all the world plays the actor.’”
“Performances at the Globe began in mid-afternoon, about three o'clock, after a trumpet sounded. Sunlight provided the lighting, although torches were sometimes lit to suggest night scenes. There were no intermissions. All performances had to end before nightfall so that playgoers could return safely home. There were no performances during lent or outbreaks of plague.”
--The Globe Theatre: An Overview, from Michael J. Cummings's "Shakespeare Study Guide"
Photograph of the interior of the Globe Theatre, facing the stage, courtesy of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Image of Wenceslas Hollar's drawing of the Globe, 1642
Aerial Photograph of the Globe Theatre
Photograph of the interior of the Globe Theatre, taken from the stage, courtesy of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Did you know The Globe Theater was referred to as "The Nest of the Devil," since Puritans in London at the time considered theaters to be sinful? The Puritans would eventually have The Globe, and all other theaters in the area, shut down.
The third tier - the highest seating area in the theater - was often referred to using the same title, as it was known that rich patrons who had tickets for boxes on the third tier were in fact engaging in prostitution, a not uncommon practice for theater goers.
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