"
Until the Globe theatre was built, the Burbages most likely possessed a
share in The Curtain. At any rate, their company used that building
alternately with their own; no doubt, for instance, during the period
between the pulling down of The Theatre and the building of the Globe.
During this period they played (as "The Lord Chamberlain's Men"), among
other things, no less famous a piece than Ben Jonson's _Every Man in
His Humour_, which, according to old tradition, was accepted on the
recommendation of Shakespeare, after having been put aside contemptuously
by the other leading actors. This splendid play had an enormous success.
Of Shakespeare's plays, _Much Ado about Nothing_ and _The Second Part of
King Henry IV_ were acted.
There is scarcely any reason for assuming, with Halliwell-Phillipps and
Ordish, that the first performance of _Henry V_ took place at The
Curtain. At the appearance of this play, in 1599, the Globe theatre was
built, and we cannot doubt that it was here that this popular play saw
the light. So the frequently mentioned "wooden O" in the prologue does
not allude to The Curtain, but to the Globe.
The outward shape of The Curtain we must imagine to have been, like that
of The Theatre, circular, and unroofed in the centre. It is generally
supposed to have been somewhat smaller than Burbage's first theatre.
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