Re-Entry.mp3
The Globe Theatre
Totus mundus agit histrionem.
All The world plays the actor, because almost the whole world are players
The most famous theatre assoiciated with William Shakespeare.
Dates of Construction: 1599, 1614, 1997
Dates of Destruction: 1613, 1642
Currently: Open and in use
Capacity: 1557
The Original Globe
The globe theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare and his company known as “Lord Chamberlain’s Men”. The company originally performed at a theatre called, “The Theatre” in Shoreditch. However problems with the landlord caused the company to move to the nearby Curtain Theatre in 1597. On the night of December 29th 1598, The Theatre was dismantled by the Burbage Brothers, William Smith (their financial backer) and carpenter Peter Street, with 10-12 workmen, while the current self proclaimed owner of the building was out of town. The beams were then carried south of the river to form part of their new playhouse, the Globe Theatre in Southwark. The theatre was completed in 1599.
History and Ownership
The original Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders in Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage, owned double the shares of the other four men or 25% each. Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips and Thomas Pope owned a single share or 12.5% each. These proportions changed over time as new sharers were added. It is interesting to note that Shakespeare’s share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career. Because most of the Globe’s timber was taken from the dismantling of The Theater, it is speculated that it took less than 7 months to complete its construction. The first recorded performance in the Globe Theatre was Ben Jonson’s Every Man out of His Humour. It is also believed that the first production of Henry V was performed at the newly constructed Globe that summer as well, due to its reference to the performance crammed within a “wooden O”.
The Rise and Fall Cycle
On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry the Eighth. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. It was rebuilt in the following year. However, like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644.In 1993 construction began on a new Globe theatre very near the site of the original. It was completed in 1996 and Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the theatre on June 12th 1997 with a production on Henry V. The new Globe is as faithful a reproduction as possible to the Elizabethan model, seating 1500 people between the galleries and the “groundlings.” In its initial 1997 season, the theatre attracted 210,000 patrons.
The Original Globe
Although the 100% accurate dimensions of the Globe are unknown, its shape and size can be approximated from scholarly inquiry gathered over the past two centuries. Evidence suggests that it was a three-story, open-air amphitheater approximately 100 feet in diameter and could house up to 3000 people. Also in Wenceslas Hollar’s sketch of the building in his engraved “Long View” of London in 1647 the building appears round. However, in 1988 the uncovering of a small part of the Globe’s foundation suggested that it was a polygon of 20 sides. At the base of the stage there was an area called the pit where for a penny, people (also called groundlings) would stand on a rush-strewn dirt floor to watch the performances. During the excavation in 1989 a layer of nutshells was found, pressed into the dirt flooring so as to form a new surface layer. Vertically, around the yard were three levels of stadium seats which were the most expensive seats in the house. Examination of old property records has identified the plot of land occupied by the Globe as extending from the west side of modern-day Southwark Bridge Road eastwards as far as Porter Street and from Park Street southwards as far as the back of Gatehouse Square. The precise location of the building however, remained unknown until a small part of the foundations, including one original pier base, was discovered in 1989 beneath the car park at the rear of Anchor Terrace on Park Street. The shape of the foundations is now replicated on the surface. As the majority of the foundations lie beneath 67—70 Anchor Terrace, a listed building no further excavations have been permitted.
