Historical Context
Exploring the World Behind the Play
Shakespeare in Love brings to life the vibrant world of Elizabethan England, blending historical accuracy with playful fiction. Understanding the historical context of the play will help deepen the performance, enrich the audience’s experience, and bring authenticity to the production.
Shakespeare’s London
The late 16th century was a golden age of English theatre, with playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and, of course, William Shakespeare at the heart of London’s cultural scene. Theatre was a bustling, popular form of entertainment, drawing audiences from all walks of life—royalty, nobility, and commoners alike.
Theatrical Life in Elizabethan England
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Theatre Spaces – Open-air playhouses like The Rose and The Curtain, where audiences stood in the pit or sat in tiered galleries.
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Acting Companies – Troupes of male actors performed plays, as women were not permitted on stage.
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Playwriting & Performance – Rapidly written scripts, frequent improvisation, and fluid collaborations between actors and playwrights.
The Rose Theatre
Ortelia’s VR model of the Rose Theatre, based on Lazaros Kastanis’ research, brings the lost venue to life as part of the Visualising Lost Theatres project.
It VR flythrough captures the theatre’s compact, dim atmosphere and explores its social and political history. Built from archaeological data and expert input, the model traces the Rose’s evolution from 1587, including its expansions. Real-time lighting and authentic weather effects help test reconstruction theories and reveal how the space was used for early plays by Marlowe and Shakespeare, near the Globe on the Thames.
Click the image to watch the video
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