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At the Blackfriars and the Globe the public of the upper galleries and of the pit paid sixpence; at the Fortune twopence, and at some of the inferior houses, as little as one penny. The best rooms or boxes, at the Globe, were paid a shilling, at the Blackfriars apparently sixpence more, and the price was subsequently raised even as high as a halfcrown. On the night of a new play the prices were doubled, and occasionally trebled.

It was customary in the theatres denominated private, to admit that class of the spectators who frequented the boxes, on the stage, where they were accommodated with chairs, for which they paid according to the comparative eligibility of their situation, either sixpence or a shilling. Here the fastidious critic was usually to be met with, the wit ambitious of distinction, and the gallant studious of the display of his apparel on his person; they even regaled themselves with the pipes and tobacco which their attendant pages handed over to them.

Numerous methods were devised to wile away the tedious hour previous to the commencement of the performance: books and cards, nuts and apples, bottled ale and pipes. A band, composed of trumpets, cornets, hautboys, lutes, recorders, viols, and organs, announced by flourishes or soundings the near approach of the commencement of the performance: the third sounding was the signal for the entrance of«the Prologue», invariably dressed in a long black velvet cloak: his humble demeanour confessed the entire submission of the managers and actors to the public will. Only one dramatic piece was performed, but relief and variety were given to the entertainment by the feats of dancers, tumblers, and conjurers, and the introduction of music between the acts. The witlings and critics used to affect disgust at the performance by significant signs, and indecent indications of contempt(See Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour).

The transition of the drama from sacred(in the Mysteries and Miracle-plays and Moralities or Moral-plays) to profane and modern subjects effected a gradual change in the performance of plays, as well as in the place of performance. As the clergy receded from, the scholars and choir-boys advanced upon the stage, and under the designation of«the children) became, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, proficient and popular performers. The masters of the schools and chapels were even empowered to take up, and retain by force, such children as they deemed suitable to their purpose.

The earliest mention of professional players appears to be that of the City Actors' in the time of Edward IV. From the ffrst entertainment of royal companies by English sovereigns, the actors were subject to the authority of the Lord Chamberlain, as general superintendent of the recreations of the court. Henry VIII. called the«Master of the Revels' for their superintendence. Elizabeth extended his jurisdiction, and she granted a licence to Burbage and others, in 1574, for the exhibition of plays of every sort, on condition that they should be before seen and allowed by the«Master of the Revels».

The actors on the old stage were divided into two classes, sharers und hirelings. The sharer was remunerated by a proportion of the profits of the theatre, and an allowance of four, five, six shillings a week was given to his boy who played either juvenile or female characters. The hireling was engaged at a weekly salary, his stipend was naturally propor- tioned to his abilities. The actors, in Shakspeare's days, were both denominated and regarded as serbants, and when the comedian's duty summoned him to attendance at the mansion of his noble patron, the butterg was the place to which he was admitted. It is improbable