Shakespeare e Globe Theatre

From Globe Theatre to Shakespeare’s Globe.

The presence of theatres is obviously essential for the representation of the works of various playwrights. In London, for example, there is one of the most famous theatres of the 17th century: the Globe Theatre. It is a theatre commonly  associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site in June 1614 and closed in 1642.
The name of this theatre alludes to the Latin tag “totus mundus agit histrionem, in turn” -because all the world plays the actor- from Petronius. This tag was adopted as the theatre's motto.
 The Globe was located  approximately in 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. However, the precise location of the building remained unknown until a small part of the foundations was discovered in 1989 beneath the car park at the rear of Anchor Terrace on Park Street.

 

It was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre and the actual dimensions are unknown. The wooden structure, also called "the wooden O" was octagonal and had an open space in the centre, which served to let in natural light. At the base of the stage, there was an area called the pit where people would stand on the rush-strewn earthen floor to watch the performance. Vertically around the yard there were three levels of stadium-style seats, which were more expensive than standing room. The back wall of the stage had two or three doors on the main level, with a curtained inner stage in the centre and a balcony above it. The doors entered into the backstage area where the actors dressed and waited for their entrances. The theatre could hold up to 3200 people. It was probably completed by the summer of 1599.

 

On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry VIII. A theatrical cannon set off during the performance, burning the wooden beams and thatching. It was rebuilt the following year. Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644.
 In 1970, American actor and director Sam Wanamaker founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust and the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, with the objective of building a faithful recreation of Shakespeare's Globe close to its original location. In 1997 a modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", was built approximately 230 m from the site of the original theatre.