"groundlings"
Allusion
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 1-14
[Enter Hamlet, and two or three of the Players (actors)]
Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Globe Theater is believed to have been able to hold as many as 3,000 people. This includes space for about 800 “groundlings”—the poorest audience members who chose to pay a small sum to stand on the ground in front of the stage. Because of their proximity to the stage, groundlings would certainly suffer if an actor was bellowing too loudly.