Studies in English Language and Literature

The Blackfriars Theatre was set up to retrieve the idea of the private theatre in London. It was the brainchild of James Burbage. It was hoped that it would not be worsened by the climate and that it would attract a small audience paying good prices. Unlike the public theatre, it was to be acted in open air. This kind of private theatre was not to rely upon a larger audience paying their puny fares. Burbage acquired the dining hall at Blackfriars Monastery and changed it into a playhouse. Needless to mention, the area where the theatre was set up was a fashionable residential one. Moreover, the people who lived there raised objection in fear that the area would be turned into a bear garden of noise and hullabaloo and that it would spoil the peace of the neighbourhood. The residents appealed to the Privy Council to decree that the building could not be used for performing the plays. The venture was halted for the time being, but the performance began later.  Each pu...