E X T E N S I O N THE GLOBE THEATRE the globe theatre was built in London in 1599 by Shakespeare s theatre company, the Lord chamberlains men , and was destroyed by fire in June 1613. a second globe theatre was built on the same site1 by June 1614 but was later closed in 1642 by the puritans, who didn t approve of the art of acting. a modern reconstruction of the globe, named Shakespeare s globe , opened in 1997 approximately 230 m from the site of the original theatre and is still used as a museum and a theatre. the globe theatre was the most beautiful theatre of the time and it could hold2 thousands of people. experts say that it didn t just show plays, but was also used as a brothel3 and a gambling house4. the elizabethan general public (the commoners) paid 1 penny to stand in the pit5 , while the gentry6 paid 2 or 3 pennies to sit in the galleries (it depended if they needed a cushion!). Rich nobles, on the other hand, could watch the play from a chair on the side of the stage. the audience of the globe never had time to get bored: in just two weeks it could offer eleven performances of ten different plays! above the theatre was a small tower with a flagpole7. On the day of the performance a flag with a picture of the next play was put out. colours were also used: black for tragedies, white for comedies and red for histories. 1. site: a place where a building is located. 2. hold: to contain something/somebody. 3. brothel: a house where people pay to have sex. 4. gambling: the activity of playing games of chance for money. 5. pit: area at the base of the stage. 6. gentry: people belonging to a high social class. 7. flagpole: 18