The way Julius Caesar was performed and staged at The Globe Theatre in 1599 was very different to how it is done today. These differences exist due to the social, political, historical and cultural changes.
Julius Caesar is Shakespeare's first tragedy. It tells the story of the conspiracy to kill Caesar, his assassination, and the civil war that followed, as Caesar's ghost bloodily pursued the chief murderers across the Roman world. Nothing like it had been seen on the stage before, as before that he wrote plays focusing on the English civil war called The Wars Of The Roses the war between the house of Lancaster and York. At this time Queen Elizabeth was on the throne who was Henry VII's daughter and Shakespeare's play showed Henry in a negative light; by questioning him as a ruler. Which was a very risky choice considering the punishments. Shakespeare would hide the darker content of the play by making the actors perform fun and playfully.
Shakespeare used Julius Caesar to question politics at that time as the play is based on true events. Julius Caesar represents Queen Elizabeth who was sixty-six years old at the time with no children making it apparent that there was going to be no heir to the throne and because of this many of her subjects questioned what would happen upon her death. Many of them believed that chaos would hit the streets, once she died, so they were looking at who would take her place, and who would be fit to rule. Caesar doesn't have children, just as Elizabeth I, the play also looks at Caesar's subjects and how they worry about how much chaos his death would bring to the people. Which ultimately does happen after Mark Antony's gives his famous speech, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ears" So it is as if Shakespeare was foreshadowing life events before they had happened.
Shakespeare appeals to modern audiences and different countries political unrest is the reason why the play is still put on today and many people can relate to the play. For example Nelson Mandela, he comes from a different historical time, a different country and a different culture. However it was a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, in particular a passage from Julius Caesar, that spoke to Mandela during one of the darkest times in his life – his imprisonment on Robben Island for his part in the uprising against Apartheid in South Africa. The quote that he highlighted was, "Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard. It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come." The character who says this piece is Julius Caesar himself, I think this speaks volumes on how similar two different people can think and this quote explains both of their situations perfectly.
Politics were very significant in 1599, and the way Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar it gave us a chance to modernise it about our problems today. For example, Julius Caesar was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company with an all-black cast set in Africa, which updated the plot and also showed the audience that many cultures are still around today and assassinations still occur all around the world.
The English Bible was the most powerful cultural as well as religious influence on the people of Britain in the later years of the century and Shakespeare used this to his advantage as the themes of ‘Julius Caesar’ are themes of leadership, betrayal and honour, which parallels to Jesus Christ as the themes also resolved around leadership, betrayal and honour. This is something that has definitely changed now (even though religion is still a big aspect of the world) as there are so many different religions and in Elizabethan time schools taught the official religion chosen by the reigning Queen or King, while schools nowadays teach all different religions to understand that religions culture.
At this time actors would have been seen as the lowest of the low, as the people they were associated with was gamblers, prostitutes and drunks. Even though the area was frowned upon with its low status, rich men and women would often still attend the theatre. They would sit in a seating area that was right above the stage this would be so that the commoners (who were known as the Groundlings) would see them. The groundlings used to watch whoever was up there at that time and see how they would react to the play. If one of them yawned, the play would be classified as boring and the audience would lose interest. As manners around theatre was very different then. For example, going to the theatre now is looked upon as a treat. You only really go on special occasion's, e.g. someone's birthday. What you expect to happen happens; you get shown to your seat, they politely ask you to turn off your phone and quietly watch the performance, in respect for the actors. You also spend good money to watch the performance.
Back in the 1600s theatre was seen as a completely different event. The people that time probably saw it as a social event. They would talk through the whole performance, boo the actor if they weren't entertaining enough and throw food at them. On these occasions the actor would change the play, right on stage they would just start being another character. The tickets were also very cheap compared to now.
The theatre itself was first built around 1599 in Southwark on the south bank of the Thames. This area of Thames was not part of London in that time and all the illicit activities took place here. Like brothels and bear hunting. Gambling. Plays were usually performed in the afternoon, so they could use the daylight from the open roof. They would have little scenery and basic props (little more than a table, dagger, chair etc..). Costumes were either made by the actors from their own clothes or things they found at home (props were also sourced from homes or small shops) but the finest costumes were donated or sold for affordable prices by wealthy people after that type of clothing had gone out of fashion.
During a performance of Henry VIII in 1613, a stage cannon malfunctioned, causing the thatched roof to catch fire, resulting in the entire theatre burning to the ground. Some believe this was a plot to stop the play being performed, or even an assassination attempt on Shakespeare. It was quickly rebuilt with a tiled roof, and ran smoothly until 1642, when England's Puritan administration closed all theatres. It was demolished in 1644 to make room for tenements (apartment houses).
