Another huge and important theatre coming up along the southwark, Paris Gardens is the Swan Elizabethan Theatre. With already more than two existing theatres along this region and with new addition of the Swan. The area of Southwark soon developed as an entertainment hub. The Swan was opened in the year 1574, not only theatrical performances it also housed several baiting sessions including the bear baits.
Swan Elizabethan Theatre
It was Frances Langley holding whose hands the Swan came into being. It goes to whose credit to have funded and brought up yet another Elizabethan theatre. With the inn-yards regulations propping up in the city of London and with the new laws coming up, the theatre communities started reviving their ways. The Swan was one such new revival in the process which was considered as a part of the Elizabethan family of theatres.
Resembling the Roman theatre ways and pattern. The Swan soon started getting quite an amount of respectability for itself. Not much in terms of information can be derived as long as the Swan goes. It is only through the diary entry of a Dutch traveller that we come to know about this latest Elizabethan Theatre ‘the Swan’. He Johannes was believed to have seen a theatre in the Swan.
The Swan Theatre Facts
During his visit he drew a sketch of this place and also wrote an account of the place. This was later used by his friend to somewhat draw our interest towards it. The exact dimensions unfortunately are not to be found. Only considering the following under the banner of the Elizabethan theatres it helps us to assume that the Swan also had the same kind of dimensions as the rest.
Reading through his account tells us that not only did he appreciate the Swan for its beauty but he also with the same taste spoke about the other Elizabethan theatres. He described the ones located on the other side of the river Thames. The Swan housed each new show daily. It was the fifth of its kind, not only was it famous for holding plays but it also housed several animal fights in those times.
Bear, dog, cow etc. were the main attractions. The human interests were kept in mind as spectacle and grandeur was given much of an importance. This reminds us of the film ‘Gladiator’ the only difference was the Roman amphitheatre and the Elizabethan one. Thatched roof was the significance of such theatres. The Swan with its sheer proportion could easily deceive and attract people at the same time.
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