E: Hello. Esme Todd, your Roadmap reporter here. Now, many famous people from history were ____ in the UK - Charles Darwin. Winston Churchill. Queen Victoria. But, perhaps, the most ____ of all is William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. During his lifetime he wrote around 40 plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth. I want to find out more about his life so, today, I'm at Shakespeare's Globe to meet expert Paul Shuter. E: Hi! P: Hi! E: Nice to meet you. I'm Esme. P: I'm Paul. E: Hi. So, this is where Shakespeare's ____ were performed. P: Er, no. The original Globe Theatre burnt down in 1613 and this is as close a ____ as we could build and this was opened in 1997. E: Well, the building looks amazing. Can we have ____ inside? P: Yeah, let's go. E: Wow! This is incredible! P: We had to work very hard to make this as close as ____ to the original. E: Well, it looks stunning. So, what was it like in Shakespeare's day? P: Noisy, busy, people came for a good time. They ate, they drank, they ____ to their friends. If it rained, like it's just been raining, they got wet. E: Was theatre popular at the time? P: Yes, we think that the Globe, the original Globe, could hold about 3,000 people. E: Wow! P: The ____ of London was about 200,000 and we think that up to 15 percent of the population of London went to the theatre ____ once a month. E: Wow, it's incredible! So, was it ____ to come here? P: No, to stand here where we're standing cost ____, which was about the same as a loaf of bread. So, most people could afford to go to the theatre. E: But you could sit down? P: Yes - the ____ in these galleries all the way round cost tuppence or threepence or fourpence. Those rooms over there, called ____, where there were cushions on the seats, cost sixpence or a shilling. But the most expensive place in the theatre was ____ at the back and centre of the stage there. E: It's not a very good view. P: No, you'd see a lot of the back of the actors' ____. But, everybody in the entire theatre could see you. They could see that you could ____ to pay to sit there and they could see the fantastic ____ that you were wearing. E: Wow! Well, can we have a look around? P: Let's go! E: Thanks. E: So, what ____ to the original theatre? P: Well, it was here until 1613 and, in a performance of Shakespeare's play Henry VIll, a cannon ____ from that window up there, the theatre ____ and in half an hour they evacuated everbody and the theatre had ____. E: And was anyone ____? P: Just one person whose trousers caught fire and, luckily, somebody put them out with their drink in a bottle. E: Oh, so he got a bit ____ then? P: Yeah! E: It's fascinating to learn about Shakespeare's time at the Globe and to hear so many stories about this beautiful theatre. E: So, what ____ to Shakespeare after the fire? P: Pretty much the end of his life in London. He retired back to Stratford-upon-Avon and he was already a very wealthy man! E: So, is that where he died? P: Yes, he ____ in Stratford on the 23rd April 1616 and he's ____ in the Parish Church. E: Well, maybe I should visit Stratford-upon-Avon next, then! P: It's a lovely place. I think you should. E: Well, thank you so much for showing me around the Globe today. It's been truly ____. P: I always enjoy ____ about Shakespeare. E: Well, what a great day! I ____ so much about Shakespeare and this beautiful theatre. I love the idea that 400 years later, Shakespeare's plays are still being performed here in - almost - the same place. Speaking of which, I'm off to try and buy myself a ticket ____ tonight's show. So, for now, this is Esme Todd, your Roadmap reporter, signing off.

RoadMap A2 unit 6 video "Shakespeare’s Globe"

Print
Embed

Leaderboard

Visual style

Options

Switch template

Continue editing: ?