Researching the Globe Theatre

1. Researching the Globe Theatre

2. The location • The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare . It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, , on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend. The globe was destroyed by a fire. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe” 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. However, the precise location of the building 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.

3. The History • The Globe was built in 1599 using wood from an earlier theatre. It was built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages family originally, had a 21-year old contract of the site on which the Theatre was made but owned the building completely. However, the landlord, Giles Allen, assumed that the building had became his with the lease. On 28 December 1598, when Allen was celebrating Christmas at his home, Peter Street supported by the players and their friends. The Theatre beam was transported to Street's waterfront warehouse. With the better weather in the following spring, the material was remade over the Thames to remake The Globe on some marshy gardens to the south of Maiden Lane. While only a couple yards from the shore of the Thames, the piece of land was situated close by an area of farmland and open fields. It was poorly drained and, notwithstanding its distance from the river, was liable to flooding at times of particularly high tide; a "wharf" (bank) of raised earth with wood had to be made to carry the building above the water level.

4. Architecture • The Architecture Research Group (ARG) was established to conduct or commissio research into Elizabethan playhouse architecture in order to advise the board of the Shakespeare Globe Trust about developing the Globe theatre space in accordance with new Research. Globe architect, Jon Greenfield, explains, 'The Globe was built as an experiment to investigate the lost open-air playhouse form of drama, in all its aspects, so it is vital that there is a continual process of re-assessment, that all the judgments made during construction are re-evaluated when new evidence or new interpretations surface, and even that the old arguments, so hotly debated before construction, are continually re-rehearsed.’

5. Who went to the theatre • Anyone who wanted to, from the poorest people (the cheapest tickets were a penny or two) right up to the Royals.

6. REFERENCE PAGE • http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/londontheatre/whatson/globe.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre