Curtain Theatre (nonfiction)

Curtain Theatre circa 1600 (cylindrical building in the background). Some authorities believe this to be a depiction of The Theatre, the other Elizabethan theatre in Shoreditch.

The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Curtain Close, Shoreditch (part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London.

Description

It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624.

The Curtain was built some 200 yards south of London's first playhouse, The Theatre, which had opened a year before, in 1576.

It was called the "Curtain" because it was located near a plot of land called Curtain Close, not because of the sort of front curtain associated with modern theatres, but of its proximity of the City walls, curtain or curtain wall referring to the part of city walls between two bastions.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnotilus - said to be enraged at the news about "Excavation finds early Shakespeare theatre was rectangular"

External links

• Curtain theatre @ wiki.karljones.com
• Curtain Theatre @ Wikipedia
• Excavation finds early Shakespeare theatre was rectangular @ theguardian.com