-
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare is born!
-
Aug 3, 1576
"The Theatre" is opened by James Burbage
The first public theatre is opened in London. The Lord Chamberlain's Men use it from 1594-1596 -
Oct 16, 1577
"The Curtain" is opened in Finsbury Fields, Shoreditch, London.
A competiting amphitheatre is built. -
An open amphlitheatre "The Rose" is built in Surrey.
-
Theatres are closed due to an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague (the Black Death).
Believing that crowds help spread the disease, all theatres are forced to close. -
The Lord Chamberlain's Men i formed.
It is founded under the patronage of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, then the Lord Chamberlain, who was in charge of court entertainments. -
The Lord Chamberlain dies.
The acting troupe loses its most important patron. -
Period: to
The public performance of plays is banned within London.
London's authorities bans the public presentation of plays and all theaters within the City limits of London are once again forced to close. All theaters located in the City were forced to move to the South side of the River Thames outside the City of London limits. -
The Lord Chamberlain's Men move "The Theatre"
Due to the landlord's refusal to renew the lease on "The Theatre", the Lord Chamberlain's Men dismantle the structure and move it to a new location. -
The Globe opens bankside.
The first performance is Julius Caesar. -
The Globe burns down during a performance of Richard III
A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. -
A rebuilt Globe opens
-
The Death of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare is buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. -
The Puritans demolish the Globe.
The theatre is torn down to make way for tenements. -
The Puritans ban all theatrical performances
The Puritans ordered all playhouses and theatres to be pulled down, all players to be seized and whipped, and anyone caught attending a play to be fined five shillings. -
Charles I of England is beheaded.
-
The Restoration restores the theatre.
In 1660, The Restoration, and the demise in the power of the Puritans, sees the opening of the theatres again. But the Globe Theatre is never re-built.
