The Shakespeare’s Globe
by Nilma Dole
The 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) away from the site of the theatre’s original location for which
Shakespeare himself wrote the plays.
 The Globe Theatre in London, associated with William Shakespeare was
firstly built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, and was destroyed by fire on June 26 1613. The fire
was caused by an accident with a cannon during a production of Henry
VIII. 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. It was highlighted that Jack Shepherd’s
‘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.
The best of Shakespeare comes alive every year as the theatre season
plays to an audience of 350,000 who experience the ‘wooden O’ sitting in
a gallery or standing as a groundling in the yard, just as they would
have done 400 years ago. It can be a formidable task of standing for
about 2 hours with a five minute break in the middle but it recreates
the real glory of Shakespeare. Those standing can feel the real heat of
Shakespeare drama where they are involved as being the crowd and
spectators of the play.
This year’s season that runs up until October are ‘Romeo & Julliet’,
‘As You Like It’, ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, ‘Helen by Eurpides’ in a new
version by Frank McGuinness, ‘A New World - A Life of Thomas Paine’ by
Trevor Griffiths and last week’s review of ‘Troilus & Cressida’.
The Exhibition and Theatre Tour is a comprehensive and engaging
introduction to the life of Shakespeare, the London where he lived, and
the theatre for which he wrote. The exhibition experience is open year
round and includes a fascinating guided tour into the theatre, led by
one of our highly skilled storytellers.
Additional activities are presented during school holidays, including
costume dressings and stage combat demonstrations. About 100,000 people
of all ages and nationalities, from pre-school to postgraduates,
participate in Globe Education’s year round programme of public events,
workshops and courses at the Globe. Globe Education also runs an
extensive programme in the Southwark Community and creates national and
international outreach projects for students and teachers.
Graduates and scholars are invited to participate in Globe Research
seminars, symposia and conferences and to make use of the Globe library
and archive.
Circles like the FRIENDS OF SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE and the Shakespeare
Globe Trust, and International Shakespeare Globe Centre founded in 1970
by American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, give Shakespeare’s Globe
the recognition it deserves. |
