Groundling - wikipedia Groundling For other uses, see Groundling ( disambiguation ). hide This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. ( November 2013 ) This article is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay that states a Wikipedia editor 's personal feelings about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. ( July 2010 ) The pit and upper levels of the reconstruction of the Globe A groundling was a person who visited the Globe Theatre in the early 17th century. They were too poor to pay to be able to sit on one of the three levels of the theatre. If they paid one penny, they could stand in `` the pit '', also called `` the yard '', just below the stage, to watch the play. Standing in the pit was uncomfortable, and people were usually packed in tightly. The groundlings were commoners who were also referred to as stinkards or penny - stinkers. The name ' groundlings ' came about after Hamlet referenced them as such when the play was first performed around 1600. At the time, the word had entered the English language to mean a small type of fish with a gaping mouth - from the vantage point of the actor playing Hamlet, set on a stage raised around 5 feet from the ground, the sea of upturned faces may have looked like wide - mouthed fish. They were known to misbehave and are commonly believed to have thrown food such as fruit and nuts at characters they did not like, although there is no evidence of this. They would watch the plays from the cramped pits with sometimes over 500 people standing there. In 1599, Thomas Platter mentioned the cost of admission at contemporary London theatres in his diary : `` There are separate galleries and there one stands more comfortably and moreover can sit, but one pays more for it. Thus anyone who remains on the level standing pays only one English penny : but if he wants to sit, he is let in at a farther door, and there he gives another penny. If he desires to sit on a cushion in the most comfortable place of all, where he not only sees everything well, but can also be seen then he gives yet another English penny at another door. And in the pauses of the comedy food and drink are carried round amongst the people and one can thus refresh himself at his own cost. '' References Jump up ^ Gurr, Andrew Playgoing in Shakespeare 's London ( Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005 ) p. 21 ISBN 0 - 521 - 54322 - 3 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Groundling&oldid=848813901 '' Categories : Stage terminology 17th - century theatre Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2013 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles needing style editing from July 2010 All articles needing style editing Articles with multiple maintenance issues All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2016 Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 4 July 2018, at 14 : 09 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: what did the groundlings do during the play
Answer: stand in "the pit", also called "the yard", just below the stage, to watch the play