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The Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre on London's Bankside is a faithful reconstruction of the theatre built in 1599 where some of Shakespeare's most famous plays were first performed.

It is a strange experience sitting in the Globe's galleries. There is the sense of leaving the present and being transported to a different world. Elizabethan playhouses aimed to symbolise the world, and the universe, no less. The theatre is round, like the world, and on the canopy above the stage are painted the twelve signs of the zodiac with the sun in the middle. Hell lies beneath the stage. In Elizabethan Englandmost people believed that this was an accurate description of the universe.

 

On stage Shakespeare skillfully showed people the truth about themselves, at the same time as weaving dreams to allow them to escape their realities for a while. He recreated the world, and showed them a different one. As the Prologue says in the final play, King Henry the Eighth:

 

Such as give

Their money out of hope they may believe

May here find truth too. Those that come to see

Only a show or two, and so agree

The play may pass, if they be still and willing

I'll undertake may see away their shilling

Richly in two short hours

 

The "heavens" at the Globe

This was Shakespeare's last play, and the play that destroyed the original theatre in 1613. Canon fire used in the production set fire to the original straw roof, burning the theatre to the ground. The theatre was rebuilt with a slate roof, and survived until it was demolished by Parliament in 1642 under pressure from the Puritans who suppressed all stage plays in the theatres. The present reconstruction near the original site was directed with great energy and vision by Sam Wannamaker, and was officially opened in 1997.

The Globe also commemorates the nearby Rose theatre where Christopher Marlowe's plays were performed. It was the foundations of the Rose Theatre, found by accident during excavations for an office building, that gave guidance to the designers of the reconstructed Globe.

Opening Times: The exhibition is open from 10th October to 17th April 10am to 5pm but closed 24th and 25th December. From 18th April to 9th October opening times are Monday to Saturday 9.30am - 12.30 and 1pm to 5pm. Sunday 9am to 11:30am and 12 midday to 5pm. Tours of the excavated foundations fo the nearby Rose Theatre are sometimes available in summer months. Check before you visit.

Directions: The Globe is on Bankside, close to London Bridge Station. Walk west along the Thames Path after coming out of the station. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on the Globe.

Access:There is a dedicated phone line for full access information. Ring 020 7902 1401. There are ramps to reception and to the exhibition. In the theatre itself there are five wheelchair spaces in the yard where people stand, (views might be poor) and three in the Gentlemen's Room. There is an adapted toilet on the ground floor, and a lift to the galleries for those who can walk but have mobility difficulties. There is a wheelchair available to assist patrons to their seats. A hearing loop is available, although being an open air theatre, the sounds of passing aircraft, or boats on the Thames will be amplified along with that of the performance. A touch tour is available for blind or visually impaired people. In the Exhibition there are Braille panels at intervals on the walls.

Contact:

phone: +44 (0) 20 7902 1433

web site: www.shakespeares-globe.org