"Literary Links" - The Globe Theatre

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

Before you stands the beautiful reproduction of the Globe Theatre – one of the most famous theatres in the world.  This is NOT the site of the original Globe Theatre -see next week's post to see that location and learn of Shakespeare's early work.  

In 1949, some 307 years later, the American actor Sam Wannamaker (1919-1993) arrived in London and came on a Shakespearean pilgrimage to visit the great Bard’s famed stomping grounds.  He was astonished to find nothing but a plaque.  Thus the seed was sown in which he fought through apathy, criticism and opposition from councils, English Heritage and even fellow actors to recreate Shakespeare’s famed Globe theatre. 

In 1970 he founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust and began fund raising with all his might.  His vision was to create a faithful reproduction using medieval building techniques and matching the appearance of the original as far as possible.  The oak beamed structure is held together by mortice and tenon joints and 6,000 wooden pegs, plastered in between with a mixture of sand, lime, water and goat hair, and topped off with thatch from Norfolk.

The interior courtyard is open to the heavens, and the ‘groundlings’ still stand for the entire performance.  The following 1599 account compares the original seating and ticket prices,

“Whoever cares to stand below pays only one English penny, but if he wishes to sit he enters by another door, and pays another penny, while if he desires to sit in the most comfortable seats which are cushioned, where he not only sees everything well but can also be seen, then he pays yet another English penny at another door.”  

The seating arrangement is similar today, although you will find the prices have gone up slightly. 

Sam Wannamaker died in 1993, four years before the theatre was completed.  It is rather sad he did not witness the opening of his masterpiece, but he died content knowing the site was secured and building well under way. 

A second theatre, located behind the Globe’s replica, was opened in 2014 and quite fittingly is named in Sam Wannamaker’s honour. 

This Globe Theatre enterprise, along with the Tate Modern has transformed this decaying backwater into a major player on London’s tourism map.  

This is an excerpt from the tour London River Walks - South Bank which explores the southern bank of the River Thames.  The full tour is found on  www.obelisktours.co.uk