acting profession, Elizabethan and Jacobean
acting profession, Elizabethan and Jacobean.The Elizabethan word for an actor was ‘player’ and there were three classes: the sharer, the hired man, and the apprentice. The nucleus of the company was the sharers, typically between four and ten men, who were named on the patent which gave them the authority to perform and which identified their aristocratic patron. The sharers owned the capital of the company, its playbooks and costumes, in common and shared the profits earned. All other actors were the employees of the sharers. The sharers were not necessarily the finest actors but they would have to bring a significant contribution to the company in the form either of capital or, as in the case of Shakespeare, writing ability. The sharing took place after the rent on the venue—often simply consisting of the takings from the galleries—had been paid and the hired men had received their wages. There was no guild system in place to regulate the industry,...
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