Hampton Court
London became the town where the actors of the day flocked. If an actor wanted to become someone, London was the place to go. In 1576 the first custom make theater was built. The Theater, an appropriate name, was built in response to the Code of Practice implemented by the London City Authorities on the Players. The players, in return, moved to the outside of the City boundaries. In 1599, the Globe was built. Here, Shakespeare's company, The Chamberlain's Men, performed. The theaters, as Hilda D. Spear explains were "open air theaters-the building...surrounded an open yard with the stage at one end, jutting out into the audience to about half the depth of the theater; the width was considerably more." The wealthier audience sat on the round three sides of the rounded three tiers. The Groundlings, the rest of the audience, stood in the open space around the stage. These members of the audience were very influential on the actors. Many times they would throw things at the actors if they did not like the performance. The front of the stage was open so the actors, as well as the groundlings, were victims of rain and other natural elements. Because there was not an abundance of stage props or scenery as we have today in the theater, words provided the scenery as well as the mood. The actors had to be very talented in order to prompt the audience imagination. Costumes were, unlike scenery settings, elaborate. However, historical basis for the dress did not seem to be important to Shakespeare. All of his plays were done in the styles of Elizabethan England. Because the theaters were outside, the performances always took place in the light. Again, the speeches of the actors were important in establishing the time of day the scene took place. One of the biggest challenges for the actors would have to have been the fact that there were no women actresses. All of the characters were played by men. Many of Shakespeare's plays like The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It have women characters pretending to be men. This would mean that men actors would be playing the role of a women playing a man. This would take great skill and imagination. Shakespeare's plays had to be written for the environment in which they were to be performed. Not only that, but many of the characters were created around the actors playing that part. In other words, Shakespeare created characters which fit the actors he had working for him at that time. Because of all these factors, talented actors were extremely important to the theater, perhaps even more important than today with all of our special effects. Five of the actors who were a part of The Chamberlain's Men were Richard Burbage, William Kemp, Robert Armin, William Sly and of course, William Shakespeare himself. Richard Burbage born in 1568, was the son of James Burbage who was a pioneer for theatrical performances about twenty years earlier.
Richard Burbage
Therefore, Richard grew up around the theater most of his life which gave him a great advantage. As a young boy he did many odd jobs around the theater. As he got a bit older, before his voice matured, he played girls parts as well as young pages and boys. As a young man, he played parts for both The Admiral's Men on the Theater, and Strange's on the Curtain. This gave Richard the talent of versatility which was helpful in his later roles in Shakespeare's Chamberlain's Men. Among Richard Burbage's talents were painting. It is believed that the famous Chandos Portrait of Shakespeare which is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London, was done by Burbage.
Shakespeare - The Chandos Portrait
William Kemp is best known for being Shakespeare's clown. Kemp was a man with a powerful physique. He is famous for his Kemp's Nine Days' Wonder which tells details of his famous morris dance from London to Norwich. However, for most of his career he was a solo comedian and worked on many jigs. After working for Leicester, Kemp made the transition from being a solo comedian to working in the Strange's company in to the commercial theater. However, most of his parts were still separate from the rest of the play. After the death of Lord Strange, Kemp joined the Chamberlain's men and worked alongside Richard Burbage. These five years with Shakespeare's men seemed to be a stable period for Kemp. He is known for playing Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing.
William Kemp
After Kemp left the company Robert Armin took his place. It is not doubted that once Armin joined the Chamberlain's Men Shakespeare created a series of 'fools' to be played by Armin. Armin even writes a book Fool Upon Fool under the name 'Clonnico De Curtanio Snuffe.' Armin's Fool, a "high-comedy professional Fool in long motley coat-a character developed from domestic jesters in real life-in the place of the old favorite russet serving-man Clown was probably both more gradual and more judicious than we have realized" (Hotson, 88). Characters that fit this 'fool' description are that of Touchstone, Feste and Lavatch. Armin, a very talented actor, created a new character for Shakespeare in that of the Fool.
Robert Armin
Another one of the Chamberlain's Men was William Sly. There is not much information on Sly, but it is expected that he played " youthful, romantic or soldierly parts such as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Laertes in Hamlet or Hotspur in Henry IV". Of course, Shakespeare himself was one of the Chamberlain's Men. He played smaller parts such as the Ghost in Hamlet. He needed to stay close to acting in the theater, yet still have the time to focus on writing all of the plays we have today. This was a look at just a few of the actors of Shakespeare's time. All of these men were very talented actors which obviously enjoyed their work. They provided entertainment for all the people of all the classes of London, and provided an arena for them to associate with each other in the same place which was very uncommon for that day.
William Sly
