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There is a common misconception that just because Shakespeare's work is old that it must also be stuffy. However, the actual practices of Elizabethan theatre, The Old Globe Theater, and Shakespeare himself shows - to quote the Bard - that "art false as hell" (Othello).
Fourth Wall? What Fourth Wall?
The Fourth Wall is the invisible wall separating the audience and the play. Unlike many modern plays, Shakespeare's characters tear that wall down whenever they like. They know the audience is there and fully interact with them. Especially when they were first produced. In that same vein, Soliloquies are when said characters talk to the audience directly.
However, even when not delivering a Soliloquy, characters would speak, interact, and move about the audience. The audience likewise would yell back. These audiences were not quiet. There were no seats, food vendors milling around, and socializing happening during the performances. Sometimes the audience would even throw food from said vendors at the performers or try to join the performer on stage. So it was very important to find fun creative ways to keep the audience's attention.
Explosions, Storms, Fire, and Blood! Oh My!
A great way to get people's attention is to set off explosions, which Shakespeare did. Though he also used other loud noises to draw attention like creating storms in and around The Old Globe Theater. One trick used was to roll a cannonball across the floor above the stage to create the sound of "rolling thunder." That thunder of course was also joined by lightning created by either throwing explosive powder into a flame or shooting a lit firecracker down a wire to the stage. With this in mind, it is unsurprising to learn that The Old Globe Theater in London now is not the original because that one burned down.
There were also other ways to shock an audience into paying attention. Firecrackers were not the only things flying around. Actors playing supernatural creatures would also be lowered down on wires from above the stage or popped out of trapped doors. Circling back to the firecrackers, there was a production during Shakespeare's time where the actors playing demons would put firecrackers in their mouths to imitate breathing fire.
Also not to be forgotten was all of the fake blood, animal blood, and violence in these plays. The audience members lived pretty violent lives, so these sword fights had to be convincing. They were so convincing that sometimes actors would actually get stabbed, by accident of course.
Nothing Beats a Good Old Fashion Dick Joke
Many people when they think of Shakespeare think of actors waxing poetics, but waxing poetics doesn't guarantee a laugh. What does guarantee a laugh, especially in Elizabethan England, is dick jokes. Crude humor in general is woven into all of Shakespeare's work, tragedy and comedy.
But instead of talking about it here are some examples!
SHAKESPEARE'S CRUDEST LINES
"PYRAMUS: O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall! THISBE: I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all." - A Midsummer Night's Dream
"PYRAMUS: O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall! THISBE: I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all." - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Considering one of the characters is playing the "Wall" in this play within a play, this line gets a solid spot on this list.
Country matters refers to sexual relations, and nothing in Shakespeare's time refered to female genitalia.
"DROMIO: A man may break a word with you sire, and words are but wind. Ay, and break it in your face, so he break it not behind." - A Comedy of Errors
"DROMIO: A man may break a word with you sire, and words are but wind. Ay, and break it in your face, so he break it not behind." - A Comedy of Errors
Breaking wind has never been said so eloquently.
Sources:
Agarax, et al. “Shakespeare Insults.” No Sweat Shakespeare, 28 Jan. 2021, https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-insults/.
Ahlin, Charlotte. “Shakespeare's Dirtiest Lines Ever - Because the Bard Was the King of Double Entendre.” Bustle, Bustle, 12 Apr. 2016, https://www.bustle.com/articles/154225-shakespeares-dirtiest-lines-ever-because-the-bard-was-the-king-of-double-entendre.
“Breaking the Fourth Wall.” Discovering Shakespeare, 20 Feb. 2017, https://discoveringshakespeare206.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/breaking-the-fourth-wall/.
Lagerfeld, Nathalie. “You're Missing Shakespeare's Best, Most Sophisticated Boner Jokes.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 22 Apr. 2016, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/youre-missing-shakespeares-best-most-sophisticated-boner-jokes.
“Performing Shakespeare in the 17th Century.” Royal Shakespeare Company, https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeares-life-and-times/performing-shakespeare-in-the-17th-century.
“Special Effects in Elizabethan England: It's No Avatar, but Not Too Bad Considering the Technological Limits of the Era.” WTHistory, 8 Nov. 2016, https://ctlsites.uga.edu/whatthehistory/special-effects-in-elizabethan-england-its-no-avatar-but-not-too-bad-considering-the-technological-limits-of-the-era/.
“Special Effects.” Shakespeare's Globe, https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/shakespeares-world/special-effects/.
Thatchickld. “Shakespeare in the 18th Century.” The Edible Eighteenth Century, 18 July 2014, https://engl3164.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/shakespeare-in-the-18th-century/.
Image Sources (in order of apperance on webpage):
Thomas Heywood, Philocothonista, or, The drunkard, opened, dissected, and anatomized. London, 1635. STC 13356. Folger Shakespeare Library (with digital color).
“In Our Time, A Midsummer Night's Dream.” BBC Radio 4, BBC, 18 Apr. 2019, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00046rp.
“Globe Theatre Fire (Famous Painting).” OnThisDay.com, 29 June 1613, https://www.onthisday.com/photos/globe-theatre-on-fire.
MailOnline, Mark Duell. “English Language Historian Reveals the Words That Will Help You Swear like an Elizabethan.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 3 Oct. 2016, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3819328/Long-nosed-gouty-legged-copper-nosed-Language-historian-reveals-long-lost-words-help-swear-like-Elizabethan.html.
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