Design
Less is known of the Red Bull's provenance than of other contemporary venues such as the Globe Theatre and Fortune Theatre. It was constructed in 1604 on St John Street in Clerkenwell; court documents reveal that it was built by renovating an inn with a central square. This origin accounts for its square floor plan, a design shared only by the original Fortune among period playhouses. It may have been named for cattle that were driven down St John Street toward the markets at Smithfield.
Apart from these few facts, little is known of the theatre's particulars. Scholars assume that it was roughly the same size as the Globe and Fortune, its competitors; at least in its early decades, its companies offered credible competition to the King's Men and Prince Henry's Men. W. C. Lawrence argued that the theatre was roofed over in the early 1620s, but his arguments were largely refuted by Leslie Hotson and G. E. Bentley. The Red Bull was most likely similar to the other outdoor theaters against which it competed, with an uncurtained thrust-forward stage backed by a tiring house and balcony, surrounded by standing room, and overlooked by galleries on three walls. Its occupancy was perhaps slightly less than the nearly 3,000 of the Globe.
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