The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
It was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.
A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and stayed open until the London theatre closures of 1642. (On 2 September 1642, just after the first English Civil War had begun, the Long Parliament ordered the closure of all London theatres.)
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, opened in 1997 approximately 230m from the site of the original theatre.
At the time of Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre Lords Rooms were considered the best seats in the ‘house’. They were undoubtedly the most expensive seats, but why were they considered the best? The Lords Rooms were situated in the balconies, or galleries, at the back of the stage above the Tiring Rooms.
The seats cost 5d – five times more than the pit.
The Lords Rooms provided a poor view of the play and the backs of the actors. However, these seats were the closest to the actors, and therefore, these wealthy theatregoers were able to hear every word of the play, even though the sound quality in the Globe Theatre was poor.
These upper-class Elizabethans believed that they were better able to appreciate the finer points of dialogue – in fact plays produced in the enclosed and more expensive playhouses were deliberately text-heavy to suit the more intimate atmosphere and more exclusive clientele. (The word ‘audience’ is derived from the Latin word audientia and the old French word ‘audre’ meaning to hear.)
In this Sunday ‘s Gospel (Mk 10:35 -45) James and John desire a seat in ‘The Lords Room’ “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (v 37)
They wish to sit with the upper-class Elizabethans!
Jesus responds that it will cost you 5d, that is five times more, “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (v 38)
Jesus accepts their 5d, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized” (v 39),
However, they need to remember that the place they have chosen to sit brings them closer to the actor(s), and the Globe Theatre has just moved from Southwark to Golgotha.