Lord Chamberlain's Men: Difference between revisions

Theatre-going became an extremely popular activity for many in London in the late 16th and early 17th century because of the constant advertisement seen throughout London playbills. During these years London had a population of approximately 200,000. Within that group of 200,000 over 15,000 men and women attended plays on a weekly basis. The Londoners who attended the theatre also enjoyed cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and bear-baiting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Höffle |first1=Andreas |editor1-last=Grabes |editor1-first=Herbert |title=Literary history -– cultural history force fields and tensions |date=2001 |publisher=Gunter Narr |location=Tübingen |isbn=9783823341710978-3823341710 |page=165}}</ref> The theatres were in a rough part of London and were surrounded by the vices of drinking, gambling, and prostitution.<ref name="auto">Cain, William E. "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction: Shakespeare at 400." Society, vol. 53, no. 1, Feb. 2016, pp. 76–87.</ref>

As Lord Chamberlain’s Men continued to prosper, they began to perform at larger venues. In 1599 they began playing at the outdoor Globe Theatre that had a capacity of 3,000 people and in 1609 they began performing at the indoor [[Blackfriars Theatre]] that had a capacity limit of 600. The minimum entry price at the Blackfriars was sixpence, six times that of the Globe, with better seats charged at eighteen and thirty pence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dustagheer |first1=Sarah |title=Shakespeare's Two Playhouses: Repertory and Theatre Space at the Globe and the Blackfriars, 1599–1613 |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107190160978-1107190160 |page=20}}</ref> This allowed the company to make money year-round from being able to have productions at indoor and outdoor theatres.<ref name="auto"/>