Set behind a red brick wall on the banks of London’s River Thames, opposite St Pauls Cathedral is what appears to be a very old building possibly from the 1500’s.
It is distinctive by having white walls, with an old style render and wooden supports. A straw thatched roof complete the old world feel. It is in fact a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
Shakespeare the famed actor and playwright is still as popular today as he was in his heyday 400 years ago. With memorable place like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet in much ado about nothing makes him possibly the worlds most famous theatrical writer.
It maybe a replica, but it is as close to the original design as possible from the information that was known about its predecessor, an Elizabethan style building (buildings built in the time of Elizabeth I). It is made from wood of unseasoned oak and uses wooden pegs to hold it together. It has thatched roof which was the first new one in London since the Great Fire of London in September 1666. The architects had to get special permission for the local building regulators to build a wooden structure in London as it was not permitted after that fire anymore.. If you look at the roof you can see the sprinklers, one of the many concessions the builders had to take to get it completed. Like the original it is open to the weather, so if you're seeing a performance at the theatre you will get wet as well as the actors.
What can we expect to see in Shakespeares Globe Theatre?
This building is not just a replica and it’s not a museum.The way to experience the Globe is to enjoy a live performance here. It is like transporting yourself back 400 years to the time of Shakespeare himself. If you can imagine as you walk through the doors at ground level you will see the stage 5 feet from the ground which has a canopy over it held up by columns. Like the original it is galleried seating in a circle around the stage on 3 levels. The bench style seat are wooden and quite uncomfortable, but you can hire cushions and a back rest. And if it’s cold you can even hire a blanket.
History
Blue plaque/Sam Wanamaker
If you look closely at the theatre from the river side path, on the wall there is a Blue plaque to a man by the name of Sam Wanamaker.
He was an America actor and director who loved to play in Shakespearean roll. He came to England to work in the 1950’s after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist sympathies as a student. Shortly after setting up home here he went with excitement on the hunt of the original globe theatre, as he had acted in many replicas back at home. He was dismayed to find that the only evidence of it was that green plaque that we saw which was on the wall of a brewery. This started for him an obsession to see a Globe Theatre back by the south banks of the River Thames. He established the Shakespeare Globe Playhouse Trust. Seventeen years later a groundbreaking ceremony was held on a Bankside site near that of the original Globe, which he would of witnessed but unfortunately he died in year before, 4 year before it opened in 1997. It was a real gamble that most people thought would fail, particularly because this area was still just derelict warehouses and where no body ever came. But his vision has transformed the area now commonly known as the Southbank or Southwark. 3 year later the Tate Morden gallery open in 2000 the same year we got a new foot bridge, theM illennium Bridge across the river Thames.
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
The theatres has been so successful that it has also has additions. In 2014 an indoor theatre call the Sam Wanamaker playhouse was built. It is said to have similarities with another in door theatres that Shakespeare used, just north of the river from where we are standing call the Blackfriars Playhouse. The modern Globe found, just like Shakespeare did 400 years ago, that you can’t make money with an open air theatres in the winter, so you need to build an indoor one. Like the out door theatre, seeing a performance here is like stepping back in time. The show are performed in candle light with candelabra and chandeliers surrounding the audience.
Today
You can of course visit the theatre to see a show but you can also take guided tours to give you the backstage view of what has become a new modern icon (old) for London
