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Shakespeare For Dummies
Illumination at the Globe
Adapted From: Shakespeare For Dummies

The first performance of King Henry VIII on June 29, 1613, brought down the house — literally. In Act 1, scene IV, drums, trumpets, and cannons are supposed to announce the royal entrance of King Henry at a party. However, when the cannons were shot, a small piece of wadding must have landed on the thatched roof of the Globe Theater, causing the entire structure to burn down. Fortunately, no one was killed, and the theater was rebuilt soon after (until it was torn down in a fit of Puritanical excess in 1644).


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