Shakespeare's Globe
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| Shakespeare's Globe | |
 |
|
| Building | |
|---|---|
| Type | Theatre |
| Architectural Style | Replica Elizabethan |
| Location | London, England |
| Construction | |
| Completed | 1997 |
| Main Contractor | McCurdy & Co. Ltd. |
| Design Team | |
| Architect | Pentagram |
| Structural engineer | Buro Happold |
| Services engineer | Buro Happold |
| Other designers | McCurdy & Co. Ltd. (timber consultant) |
| Quantity Surveyor | Boyden & Co |
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which officially opened in 1997, is a reconstruction of The Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. It is approximately 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre.[1]. Jack Shepherd's lively 'Prologue Production' of The Two Gentlemen of Verona starring Mark Rylance as Proteus, opened the Globe to the theatregoing public in August 1996, a year before the formal opening Gala.
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[edit] The original Globe
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 set by a cannon accident during a production of Henry VIII.[2] The Globe Theatre was rebuilt by June 1614, officially closed by order of the dominant Puritan religious faction in 1642 and demolished in 1644.[3]
[edit] History
At the instigation of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, a new Globe theatre was built according to a design based on the research of historical advisor John Orrell.[4] The rest of the design team comprised Theo Crosby of Pentagram as the architect, Buro Happold as structural and services engineers and Boyden & Co as quantity surveyors. The construction was undertaken by McCurdy & Co[5]. It opened in 1997[6] under the name "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre" and now stages plays every summer (May to October). Mark Rylance was appointed as the first artistic director of the modern Globe in 1995. In 2006, Dominic Dromgoole took over.[7]
The new theatre on Bankside is approximately 225 yards (205m) from the original site, centre to centre, and was the first thatched roof building permitted in London since the Great Fire of London in 1666.[citation needed]
As in the original Globe, the theatre has a thrust stage that projects into a large circular yard surrounded by three tiers of steeply raked seating. The only covered parts of the amphitheatre are the stage and the (more expensive) seated areas. Plays are put on 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 as possible. This was aided by the discovery of the original Globe Theatre as final plans were being made of the site. Modernizations include the addition of lights (plays in Shakespeare's time were held during the day), sprinklers on the roof to protect against fire, and the fact that the theatre is partly joined onto a modern lobby, visitors centre and additional backstage support areas. Seating capacity is 1,380, with a further 500 "groundlings" standing (and you must stand, no sitting allowed) in the pit,[8] an audience about half the size of that in Shakespeare's time.
[edit] Other replicas
A number of replicas or free interpretations of the Globe have been built around the world:
- U.S.A.
- OSF Elizabethan Theatre, Ashland, Oregon, built in 1935, rebuilt 1947 and 1959
- San Diego, Old Globe Theatre, built in 1935[9]
- Cedar City, Utah, Adams Shakespearean Theatre
- Dallas, Texas, Old Globe Theatre, built 1936[10]
- Odessa, Texas, The Globe Theatre Of The Great Southwest
- Williamsburg, Virginia, Globe Theatre, built 1975 in the Banbury Cross section obo Gardens Europe [2]
- There is currently an effort to create a Globe Theatre in New York City.[11]
- Germany
- Neuss am Rhein, Globe Neuss, built 1991
- Rust, Baden, Germany, Europa-Park, built 2000
- Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg
- Italy
- Czech Republic
- Japan
- Tokyo, Isozakia Arata's Panasonic Globe Theatre in Tokyo, built 1988
Replica of similar Elizabethan theatre:
- Waseda University Tsubouchi Shoyo Memorial Library Theatre (a replica of The Fortune Theatre), built early 1900s
[edit] Notes
- ^ Measured using Google earth
- ^ Nagler 1958, p. 8.
- ^ Gurr, Andrew (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica: Globe Theatre.
- ^ Martin, Douglas. "John Orrell, 68, Historian On New Globe Theater, Dies", New York Times, 2003-09-28. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ McCurdy & Co website
- ^ Information about the Globe.
- ^ Dominic Dromgoole appointed Artistic Director. The Shakespeare Globe Trust. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London. London's Theatres. thisistheatre.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
- ^ The Old Globe, San Diego.
- ^ Further Replicas (in German).
- ^ www.Broadway.TV article "Broadway To Get New Globe?"[1]
- ^ Italy gets Globe Theatre replica.
- ^ The Globe Theatre in Prague - More Information about the Disaster.
[edit] References
- Nagler, A.M. (1958). Shakespeare's Stage. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300026897.
- Schoenbaum, Samuel (1991). Shakespeare's Lives. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0198186185.
[edit] External links
- Globe Theatre Study Guide
- Building a Piece of History The Story of the New Globe Theatre By Zachary T. Oser
- Shakespeare's Globe Theatre website
- Entertainment at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
- Satellite photo of the rebuilt Globe Theatre
- Rose Theatre Website
- 3D Model of Globe Theatre done by Wesleyan University's Learning Objects Studio
- Shakespeare's Globe at the Shakespeare Resource Center
- Doctor Who Episode guide for 'The Shakespeare Code'
- Shakespeare's Globe 2008 'Totus Mundus' season
[edit] Literature
- Day, Barry: This Wooden 'O': Shakespeare's Globe Reborn. Oberon Books, London, 1997. ISBN 1-870259-99-8.
- 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. ISBN 0-9536480-4-4.
