Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
, an Elizabethan playhouse for which
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
wrote his plays, in the
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...
, on the south bank of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
. The original theatre was built in 1599, destroyed by the fire in 1613, rebuilt in 1614, and then demolished in 1644. The modern Globe Theatre is an academic approximation based on available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 buildings. It is considered quite realistic, though modern safety requirements mean that it accommodates only 1,400 spectators compared to the original theatre's 3,000.
The modern ''Shakespeare's Globe'' was founded by the actor and director
Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited as ...
, and built about from the site of the original theatre in the historic open-air style. It opened to the public in 1997, with a production of ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
''. The site also includes the
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of Shakespeare's Globe, along with the Globe Theatre on Bankside, London. Built making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor theatre, the playhouse recalls the layout and style of th ...
, an indoor theatre which opened in January 2014. This is a smaller, candle-lit space based on historic plans for an indoor playhouse of
Jacobean era
The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Ca ...
London (possibly
Blackfriars Theatre
Blackfriars Theatre was the name given to two separate theatres located in the former Blackfriars Dominican priory in the City of London during the Renaissance. The first theatre began as a venue for the Children of the Chapel Royal, child acto ...
). The Sackler Studios, an educational and rehearsal studio complex, is situated just around the corner from the main site.
Michelle Terry
Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and star ...
currently serves as artistic director. She is the second actor-manager in charge of the organisation, following
Mark Rylance
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...
, the founding artistic director.
Planning and construction
In 1970, American actor and director
Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited as ...
founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust and the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, with the objective of building a faithful recreation of Shakespeare's Globe close to its original location at
Bankside
Bankside is an area of London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance befor ...
, Southwark. This inspired the founding of a number of
Shakespeare's Globe Centres
300px, The reconstructed Globe in London
The Shakespeare's Globe Centres are international centres for theatrical education and for the promotion of the Shakespeare's Globe in London, their nucleus organisation.
Shakespeare Globe Centre Canada
Th ...
around the world, an activity in which Wanamaker also participated.
![The Globe Theatre, Panorama Innenraum, London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/The_Globe_Theatre%2C_Panorama_Innenraum%2C_London.jpg)
Many people maintained that a faithful Globe reconstruction was impossible to achieve due to the complications in the 16th-century design and modern fire safety requirements; however, Wanamaker and his associate
Diana Devlin
Diana Devlin (1 April 1941 - 27 September 2020) was a London based teacher, author and theatre academic who helped to create the Shakespeare's Globe theatre with her associate Sam Wanamaker.
Life
Devlin was born in Porthmadog, Wales on 1 April 194 ...
persevered in their vision for over 20 years to create the theatre.
A new Globe theatre was eventually built according to a design based on the research of historical adviser
John Orrell
John Orrell (December 31, 1934 – September 16, 2003) was a British author, theatre historian, and English professor at the University of Alberta. The ''New York Times'' described him as the "historian whose intellectual detective work laid t ...
.
It was Wanamaker's wish that the new building recreate the Globe as it existed during most of Shakespeare's time there; that is, the 1599 building rather than its 1614 replacement. A study was made of what was known of the construction of
The Theatre
The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse in Shoreditch (in Curtain Road, part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It was the first permanent theatre ever built in England. It was built in 1576 after the ...
, the building from which the 1599 Globe obtained much of its timber, as a starting point for the modern building's design. To this were added: examinations of other surviving London buildings from the latter part of the 16th century; comparisons with other theatres of the period (particularly the
Fortune Playhouse
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
, for which the building contract survives); and contemporary drawings and descriptions of the first Globe. For practical reasons, some features of the 1614 rebuilding were incorporated into the modern design, such as the external staircases. The design team consisted of architect
Theo Crosby
Theo Crosby (3 April 1925 – 12 September 1994) was an architect, editor, writer and sculptor, engaged with major developments in design across four decades. He was also an early vocal critic of modern urbanism. He is best remembered as a found ...
of
Pentagram
A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...
, structural and services engineer
Buro Happold
Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...
, and quantity surveyors from Boyden & Co. The construction, building research and historic design details were undertaken by McCurdy & Co.
In 1994, the name "Globe Theatre" was used by one of the theatres in
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly Cir ...
; to make the name available and to avoid confusion, that year it was renamed as the
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels.
The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague an ...
.
The theatre opened in 1997
under the name "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre", and has staged plays every summer.
Mark Rylance
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...
became the first
artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...
in 1995 and was succeeded by
Dominic Dromgoole
Dominic Dromgoole (born 25 October 1963)[DROMGOOLE, Dominic Charles Flemi ...](_blank)
in 2006. In January 2016,
Emma Rice
Emma Juliet Rice (born August 1967) is a British actor, director and writer. Hailed as a fearless director, Rice's work includes theatrical adaptations of ''Brief Encounter'', '' The Red Shoes'' and ''Wise Children.'' In 2022, Rice was named in ...
began her term as the Globe's third artistic director,
[BBC Radio 4]
"New Globe director on changes to Shakespeare"
''Best of Today'', 5 January May 2016. but in October 2016 announced her decision to resign from the position. On 24 July 2017 her successor was announced to be the actor and writer
Michelle Terry
Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and star ...
.
![Shakespeares Globe Romeo and Juliet 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Shakespeares_Globe_Romeo_and_Juliet_2019.JPG)
The theatre is located on
Bankside
Bankside is an area of London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance befor ...
, about from the original site—measured from centre to centre. Listed Georgian townhouses now occupy part of the original site and could not be considered for removal. Like the original Globe, the modern theatre has a
thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performe ...
that projects into a large circular yard surrounded by three tiers of raked seating. The only covered parts of the amphitheatre are the stage and the seating areas. Plays are staged during the summer, usually between May and the first week of October; in the winter, the theatre is used for educational purposes. Tours are available all year round. Some productions are filmed and released to cinemas as Globe on Screen productions (usually in the year following the live production), and on DVD.
The reconstruction was carefully researched so that the new building would be as faithful a replica of the original as possible. This was aided by the discovery of the remains of the original
Rose Theatre, a nearby neighbour to the Globe, as final plans were being made for the site and structure.
The building itself is constructed entirely of
English oak
''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widely ...
, with
mortise and tenon
A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) joint connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at right ...
joints
and is, in this sense, an "authentic" 16th-century timber-framed building as no structural steel was used. The seats are simple benches (though cushions can be hired for performances) and the Globe has the first and only
thatched roof
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
permitted in London since the
Great Fire of 1666
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...
.
The modern thatch is well protected by fire retardants, and
sprinklers on the roof ensure further protection against fire. The pit has a concrete surface,
as opposed to earthen-ground covered with strewn rush from the original theatre. The theatre has extensive backstage support areas for actors and musicians, and is attached to a modern lobby, restaurant, gift shop and visitor centre. Seating capacity is 873 with an additional 700 "
Groundling
A groundling was a person who visited the Red Lion, The Rose, or the Globe theatres in the early 17th century. They were too poor to pay to be able to sit on one of the three levels of the theatre. If they paid one penny (), they could stand in " ...
s" standing in the yard, making up an audience about half the size of a typical audience in Shakespeare's time.
For its first 18 seasons, performances were engineered to duplicate the original environment of Shakespeare's Globe; there were no spotlights, and plays were staged during daylight hours and in the evenings (with the help of interior floodlights), there were no microphones, speakers or amplification. All music was performed live, most often on period instruments; and the actors and the audience could see and interact easily with each other, adding to the feeling of a shared experience and of a community event.
Typically, performances have been created in the spirit of experimentation to explore the original playing conditions of the 1599 Globe. Modern and conventional theatre technology such as spotlights and microphones were not used during this period. Beginning in the 2016 season, the new artistic director, Emma Rice, began experimenting with the theatre space by installing a temporary lighting and sound rig. The current artistic director, Michelle Terry, has brought back the experimentation on original playing conditions.
The Globe operates without any public subsidy and generates £24 million in revenue per year.
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Adjacent to the Globe is the
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of Shakespeare's Globe, along with the Globe Theatre on Bankside, London. Built making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor theatre, the playhouse recalls the layout and style of th ...
, an indoor theatre modelled after a Jacobean-era theatre and used for performances during the winter months when the main theatre cannot be used.
''Read Not Dead''
''Read Not Dead'' is a series of play readings, or staged "performances with scripts" that have been presented as part of the educational programme of Shakespeare's Globe since 1995. The plays selected are those that were written between 1576 and 1642 by Shakespeare's contemporaries or near contemporaries. These readings are performed at Shakespeare's Globe Sackler Studios as well as other theatres, halls, festivals and fields nationwide.
[Read Not Dead](_blank)
Shakespeare's Globe. Archived 23 June 2013.
In 2013 there were ''Read Not Dead'' performances at the Wilderness Festival and at the
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
.
[Read Not Dead On The Road](_blank)
Shakespeare's Globe. Archived 30 May 2014. In 2014, the final production in ''Read not Dead's'' first season was performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which is the indoor Jacobean style theatre. The play selected for that occasion was
Robert Daborne
Robert Daborne (c. 1580 – 23 March 1628) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era.
His father was also Robert Daborne, heir to family property in Guildford, Surrey and other places, including London, and a wealthy haberdasher by trade ...
’s ''
A Christian Turn'd Turk
''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' (1612) is a play by the English dramatist Robert Daborne. It concerns the conversion of the pirate John Ward to Islam.
Characters
The list of dramatis personae printed in the 1612 quarto is incomplete and inaccura ...
''.
''Globe on Screen''
The Globe's productions are often screened in cinemas and released on DVD. In 2015, the venue launched Globe Player, a video-on-demand service enabling viewers to watch the plays on laptops and mobile devices. The theatre was the first in the world to make its plays available as video-on-demand.
Other replicas
Replicas and free interpretations of the Globe have been built around the world:
; Argentina
*
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
: Teatro Shakespeare.
![Teatro shakespeare](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Teatro_shakespeare.png)
; Germany
![Schwäbisch Hall Globe-Theater 2000 by-RaBoe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Schw%C3%A4bisch_Hall_Globe-Theater_2000_by-RaBoe.jpg)
*
Neuss am Rhein:
Globe Neuss
*
Rust, Baden, Germany: in the
Europa-Park
Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. Europa-Park is located in Rust, south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbourg (in neighbouring Franc ...
*
Schwäbisch Hall
Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...
, Baden-Württemberg: houses a replica of the interior of the Globe Theatre.
; Italy
* Rome: Globe Theatre
![TeatroaVilla Borghese2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/TeatroaVilla_Borghese2.JPG)
; Japan
* Tokyo:
Panasonic Globe Theatre
The Panasonic Globe Theatre in Tokyo, Japan, was designed by Isozaki Arata and opened in 1988 to showcase local and international productions of Shakespeare's plays. Guest companies and artists have included the British Royal National Theatre, ...
* Tokyo: Meisei University's Shakespeare Hall, at its Hino campus
; New Zealand
*
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
:
Pop-up Globe
Pop-up Globe was a New Zealand theatre production company, based in Auckland, New Zealand. It produced Jacobean theatre, particularly the works of Shakespeare, in specially-built temporary replicas of the second Globe, the theatre Shakespeare an ...
; United States
*
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...
:
Allen Elizabethan Theatre
*
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
: Curtain Theatre
*
Cedar City, Utah
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
:
Adams Shakespearean Theatre
*
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
: Old Globe Theatre
*
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County.
Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...
:
Globe of the Great Southwest
*
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
:
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...
*
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...
: Globe Theatre, in
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park located in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Located approximately northwest of Virgini ...
*
Twin Lake, Michigan
Twin Lake is an unincorporated community in Muskegon County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. Local government services are provided by Dalton Township. As of the 2000 census, the co ...
: Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, The Rose Playhouse.
See also (period theatres)
*
Curtain Theatre
The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch (within the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624.
The Curtain was ...
*
The Rose
Notes
Further reading
* Carson, Christie and Karim Cooper ''Shakespeare's Globe: A theatrical Experiment'' Cambridge University Press, 2008,
* Day, Barry: ''This Wooden 'O': Shakespeare's Globe Reborn''. Oberon Books, London, 1997. .
* Fiorillo, Ezio, ''Shakespeare’s Globe. As You Like It, aut Enim Interpretari Placet'', Translation by Jackie Little, All’insegna del Matamoros, Algua (Bergamo) 2013.
*
*
Rylance, Mark: ''Play: A Recollection in Pictures and Words of the First Five Years of Play at Shakespeares's Globe Theatre''. Photogr.: Sheila Burnett, Donald Cooper, Richard Kolina, John Tramper. Shakespeare's Globe Publ., London, 2003. .
*
*
External links
Shakespeare's GlobeShakespeare's Globe at Google Cultural Institute''Plays performed at the reconstructed Globe (by season)''(Shakespeare's Globe)
April 2012 BBC Radio 4 ''The Reunion'' programme about the building of Shakespeare's GlobeThe Story of the New Globe Theatre By Zachary T. Oser
Satellite photo of the rebuilt Globe TheatreRose Theatre WebsiteEntertainment at The Globe in Shakespeare's time3D Model of Globe Theatre done by Wesleyan University's Learning Objects StudioDoctor Who Episode guide for 'The Shakespeare Code'Teatro Shakespeare Buenos Aires(Mobile construction that evokes an Elizabethan Theatre)
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in 1997
Theatres in the London Borough of Southwark
Rotundas in the United Kingdom
Theatres completed in 1997
Outdoor theatres
Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom
Producing house theatres in London
Buildings and structures on the River Thames
Museums in the London Borough of Southwark
Theatre museums
Literary museums in London
Museums on the River Thames
Thatched buildings in England
1997 establishments in England
Replica buildings
Timber framed buildings in London
Renaissance reenactment
Memorials to William Shakespeare