| |
More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
|
Globe
|
|
|
The theatre in which most of Shakespeare's greatest plays had their first performances. It was built in 1598–9 south of the river Thames on *Bankside, the main entertainment area at that time, by Cuthbert and Richard *Burbage. They re-used the timbers of London's earliest theatre (called simply the Theatre and built north of the city by their father, James Burbage, in 1576).
|
|
|
|
|
The Globe was round – *Henry V, which has in its prologue the phrase 'this wooden O', may have been one of the first plays performed in it. It had three tiers of galleries for seated spectators around the open area on which the 'groundlings' stood to watch the play. There was a thatched roof above the galleries and over the stage, which was a rectangular platform projecting into the yard. In 1613 a spark from a cannon, fired during a performance of *Henry VIII, set the thatch alight and the Globe burnt to the ground.
|
|
|
|
|
By the next year it had been rebuilt (with tiles on the roof), and as such it appears in the 1647 'Long View' of London by Hollar. But the lettering was wrongly added to the print. The Globe is the building on the left, marked 'Beere bayting' (the double roof over the stage is clearly visible). The building marked 'The Globe' was in fact the Hope, which had been built for *bear baiting but which put on plays as well while the Globe was out of action. Along with the other London theatres the Globe was closed by the *Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644; in 1989 traces of its foundations were discovered. A full-scale reconstruction of it near the original site, long planned by the American actor Sam Wanamaker (1919-93), was completed in 1995 and is now an active professional theatre.
|
|
|
|