Shakespeare's Globe

Coordinates: 51°30′29″N 0°5′50″W / 51.50806°N 0.09722°W / 51.50806; -0.09722

Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe in May 2003
Address 21 New Globe Walk
City Southwark, London
Country UK
Architect Pentagram
Owned by The Shakespeare Globe Trust
Opened 1997
www.shakespearesglobe.com

Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames that was destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based on available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 buildings. It was founded by the actor and director Sam Wanamaker and built about 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre and opened to the public in 1997, with a production of Henry V. The site also includes a shell reconstruction of the Blackfriars Theatre, another Elizabethan theatre, due to be completed and open in November 2012.

The original Globe

Main article: Globe Theatre

The original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the playing company Lord Chamberlain's Men, to which Shakespeare belonged, and was destroyed by fire on June 29, 1613. The fire was caused by an accident with a cannon during a production of Henry VIII.[1] The theatre was rebuilt by June 1614 (the exact opening date is not known), but was officially closed by pressure of Puritan opinion in 1642 and demolished in 1644 .[2] The current theatre is based on the 1614 rebuilding, about which more information survives, but with a larger stage and broader staircases.[3]

History

Stage and galleries

In 1970, American actor and director Sam Wanamaker 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, Southwark. Many detractors maintained that a faithful Globe reconstruction was impossible to achieve due to the complications in the 17th century design and modern fire codes; however, Wanamaker persevered in his vision for over twenty years, and, eventually, a new Globe theatre was built according to a design based on the research of historical advisor John Orrell.[4] The design team was composed of architect Theo Crosby of Pentagram, structural and services engineer Buro Happold, quantity surveyors from Boyden & Co. The construction was undertaken by McCurdy & Co.[5]

The theatre opened in 1997[6] under the name "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre" and has staged live plays every summer. Mark Rylance became the first artistic director in 1995 and was succeeded by Dominic Dromgoole in 2006.[7]

The new theatre on Bankside is about 230 metres (750 ft) from the original site, measured from centre to centre.[8] The Thames was much wider in Shakespeare's time, and the original Globe was on the riverbank but the original site is now more than a block from the riverside. The site for the reconstructed Globe near the present bank of the Thames was chosen to recreate the atmosphere of the original theatre.

Like the original Globe, the modern theatre has a thrust stage that projects into a large circular yard surrounded by three tiers of raked seating.

The modern Globe from the River Thames

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.

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 Globe Theatre as final plans were being made for the site and structure. Performances are engineered to duplicate the original environment of Shakespeare's Globe; there are no spotlights, plays are staged during daylight hours and in the evenings (with the help of interior floodlights), there are no microphones, speakers or amplification. All music is performed live on period instruments; the actors can see the audience and the audience can see each other, adding to the feeling of a shared experience and community event.

The building itself is constructed entirely of English oak, with mortise and tenon joinery,[9] - no structural steel was used. It is, in this sense, an "authentic" 16th century timber-framed building. The seats are simple benches (though cushions can be hired for performances) and the Globe has the first and only thatched roof permitted in London since the Great Fire of 1666.[9] The modern thatch is well protected by fire retardants, and sprinklers on the roof ensure further protection against fire. The pit, however, has a concrete surface[9] as opposed to the earthen ground covered with strewn rush in the original theatre. The "authentic" theatre has extensive backstage support areas for actors and musicians and is attached to a modern lobby, restaurant, gift shop and visitors' centre. Seating capacity is 857[10] with an additional 700 "groundlings" standing in the pit,[11] making up an audience about half the size of a typical audience in Shakespeare's time.

Sam Wanamaker Theatre

The Globe's replica Jacobean theatre

As the modern Globe was under construction an indoor theatre, a "simulacrum" of the sixteenth-century Blackfriars Theatre on the opposite side of the Thames, was built next door.[12] Initially used as a rehearsal space and for education projects, funding has now progressed to a stage where fitting out as a public theatre can begin, with a proposed opening in 2013. Although the original building, which provides the pattern, was erected in 1596, during Elizabeth's reign, local residents successfully petitioned against it and the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's playing company, did not begin to use it until 1608, five years into Jacobean era.[13] As no reliable plans of this structure are known, a design by John Webb from about fifty years later, but believed to be similar in shape and design, has been adapted.[12] On 24 February 2012 it was announced that the new theatre would be named the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, after the complex's founder, and work on it would commence in October that year. It was also announced that the total cost would be £7 million, but that an anonymous donor had pledged £1 for every £1 the theatre itself raised, up to a maximum of £3 million.[14]

Other replicas

Globe-Theater, Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Replicas and free interpretations of the Globe have been built around the world:

Germany
Italy
Japan
United States

In popular culture

Interior of modern reconstruction

Notes

  1. ^ Nagler 1958, p. 8.
  2. ^ Gurr, Andrew (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica: Globe Theatre. 
  3. ^ Bowsher, Julian; Miller, Pat (2010). "The New Globe". The Rose and the Globe — playhouses of Shakespeare's Bankside, Southwark. Museum of London. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-901992-85-4. 
  4. ^ Martin, Douglas (2003-09-28). "John Orrell, 68, Historian On New Globe Theater, Dies". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD6133DF93BA1575AC0A9659C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/D/Deaths%20(Obituaries). Retrieved 2007-12-11. 
  5. ^ McCurdy & Co website
  6. ^ Phelan, Peggy (2006). Hodgdon, Barbara; Worthen, William B. eds. A Companion to Shakespeare And Performance. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. p. 14. ISBN 1-4051-1104-6. 
  7. ^ "Dominic Dromgoole appointed Artistic Director". The Shakespeare Globe Trust. http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/information/latestnews/20061030/3524/. Retrieved 2007-03-19. 
  8. ^ Measured using Google Earth.
  9. ^ a b c McCurdy, Peter. "The Reconstruction of the Globe Theatre". Reading, England: McCurdy and Company. http://www.mccurdyco.com/globefab.html. Retrieved 19 December 2009. 
  10. ^ This number can be derived by counting all seats on the detailed seating plans that are shown after selecting an event and start the booking procedure at "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London". online. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London. 2009. https://tickets.shakespeares-globe.org/. Retrieved 2009-11-29.  and adding another 20 for the "Gentlemen's Rooms" ("Shakespeare's Globe". Gentlemen's Rooms. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London. 2009. http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/hospitality/. Retrieved 2009-11-29. )
  11. ^ "Shakespeare's Globe :: Seating Plan and Ticket Prices". Shakespeare's Globe. 2009. http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/boxoffice/seatingplanandticketprices/. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
  12. ^ a b "Shakespeare’s Globe Announces Plans to Build an Indoor Jacobean Theatre" (Press release). Shakespeare's Globe. 20 January 2011. http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/ffiles/2011/02/401601.pdf. Retrieved 24 October 2011. 
  13. ^ Bowsher; Miller (2009: 19)
  14. ^ Louise Jury (24 February 2012). "Globe theatre appeal … stage two". Evening Standard. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-24038431-globe-theatre-appeal--stage-two.do. Retrieved 24 February 2012. 
  15. ^ Globe Theatre Neuss
  16. ^ Italy gets Globe Theatre replica.
  17. ^ The Globe Theatre, 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at State Fair Dallas
  18. ^ The Old Globe, San Diego.
  19. ^ [1]

References

Literature

External links

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