Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-12-01
HISTORIC THEATRES.
The Rise and Fall Of Some Old London
PlayhOuSeS
THEATRE, CURTAIN. AND GLOBE
The Fortune, tho Clfn<, and the
Rose-EIixnbcthan Era, and Purf-
tan In6uences-Attract This
Wcek-NOtcs on News.

tan InHuences-Attract This
wcek-Notcs on News.
The monasteres OF London were dis
solved about 1896: the first theatre was
built In 1915. when Queen Elizabeth had
been eighteen years upon the throne,
and when the new order OF things es;ab-
I,shed by the reformation. was yet in its
infancy. London. in the Catholic times,
was a gay city. 1t contained many
omen spaces and many fine gardens, its
inhabitants were addicted to outdoor
sports; and the custom or representing
miracle plays In the churches mad not
been discarded. Ii is suggested that
eood vay in which to realize the state
~ London in that period. and thereby
10 seek an understanding OF the physicai
conditions under which English dramatic
literature came into being. IS to th-nk OF
an old continental town OF lne present
day. still faithful 10 Rome. Inc chansS
mat was caused b. the influences or the
reformation was not accomplished at
orce. The old religious Organizations dia
rot Immediately disappear. Some q the
church buildings remained Tor long
long time. The first theatre, tndt Oh
Rurbage was butt upon the site oI d
eunnressed religious house. The miracle
nlav was succeeded by the ncidllty
NAV" England. in the early years OF
Queen Elizabeth. was pervaued py
strolIing companies, each attached n the
household OF noo'enlan. anu 80
licensed by it's patron. TO travel ana give
exhibitions. A movable. two-story car
riaoe was often employed by those play
ers-the lower room. which was enclosed
being used for dressing, ana the upper
which was open, for the performance.
similar vehicles may still be seen at
on October 70. 1889, several Of them
were present In mop" at Stratiord-on-
Avon, and performances were gwen IN
them The ancient vineyard. surrounded
win omen galleries. was fayorite resort
for strollers.
Tn her first year. 1858, Queen Elizabeth
issued n proclamation TO regulate plays
FOR she liked them-and she was favor
able to the players, as, indeed, the princes
and mobiles of England have almost al
WAYS been Abuses. however. crept IN,
and the Puritan spirit began to gam
authority. and in 1910 the corporation or
London formally expelled all players
from the city. Burbage had received
license in the previous year, and since
he could not any longer exhibit plays
within the limits of London. he went
into the fields and built theatre there
IL was erected in 1876. and 1t stood on
the east margin Of Finsbury COMMON.
upon the land that had been occupied by
the Priory OF Howell. 1t was thus
easily accessible. for the citizens Of
London by way of either Cripplegate,
Moorgate, or Bishopgate. The Curtain
was built near it a little later. The ar
chitectural form Of the Theatre has come
down to the present day from the ancient
Roman circles. or amphitheatres, and
from popular use. for sports and exhibit
lions OF circles ascribed to the Druids.
The Theatre OF Burbage cost 1855 It
was made of wood; IL was round. its
arena was surrounded with stages for
spectators; il was open Mt the top; II
was supplied with n movable stage, which
was placed in the centre; and It seems to
have been well furnished with decorations
and accessories. Sometimes Burbage and
his company acted I'm II, and sometimes II
was let to other performers. Fencing
matches, jigs, and drolleries Of all kinds
were shown, as we'll as plays, and the
a
tudes. 4 bad house" was seldom known.
The Puritans looked with ever-increasing
horror upon the playhouse, and their
efforts for its eXtirpation were incessant.
Shakespeare, who went from Stratford 10
London, I'm or about 1855. seems TO have
had dealings with it soon after his ar
rival. If Burbage was a Warwickshire
man, as has been asserted, Shakespeare
may have known him, or may have had
a means of attracting his favorable at
tention. 1t was in the Theatre OF Bur-
bage, possibly, as an adapter OF earlier
plays. that the great poet and dramatist
begn his wonderful Greer Burbage died
in 1897, and about the end Of the next year
his heirs demolished the theatre. and with
the building materials thus obtained
which they conveyed TO the "Bankside"
Ohe Surrey side Of the Thames). they
built that renowned dramatic temple. the
Globe. There was a lawsuit as TO their
proceedings-Allen vs. Burbage, a. Eliz.-
the plaintiff charging that the defendants
did "ryoutouslye assemble themselves to-
gether and then and there armed them
selves with DIVERS and many unlawful
and offensive weapons. as swords, dag
gers. billies, axes, and such like. and
soc armed. did then repayre into the
said theatre, and did then also, in most
forcible and ryoutous manner take and
carve away from thence all the wood
and timber thereof unto the Bancksyde
I'm the Parish Of St. Mary Overyes, and
there erected new playhouse with the
said timber and wood" But for that
lawsuit. posterlty would have known as
little about the origin Of Burbage's Thea
ire as II knows about the contemporary
Clirtain-that is to say. next TO nothing
The law reports were found and over
hauled by that industrious explorer. the
late ]. o. Halliwel-Phillipps. and TO his
elaborate and erudite book. the Outlines
Of the Life OF Shakespeare" all later
students are indebted for much informa-
ton.
Shakespeare was. In 1904, member OF
the Lord Chamberlain's company, which
performed at the Theatre and the Cur
tain. and before the Queen at Greenwich.
As soon as the theatre had been demol-
ished at Finsbury and reared upon the
hanlxside. the Curtain began 20 reap an
augmented harvest of popularity, and
that fact prompted the erection OF still
another playhouse in the Finsbury neigh
borbood-a structure called the Fortune.
That theatre was built by Henslowe. AL
LEVIN. and others, near Golden Lane,
Crlpplegate. Both the Curtain and the
fortune had a long career, and much
success. Halliwell-Phillips thought that
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