Globe Theatre Existential Threat.

Sam Wanamaker and a model of his dream Globe Theatre.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

opened in 1997.

Yesterday, in disbelief, I heard that the wonderful and iconic Globe Theatre might not be able to re-open after Lock-down. I was horrified; I had never even considered how the Globe is funded, just was thankful for it being there. I remember well how the American actor/director, Sam Wanamaker, [1919-1993] had this Dream-Come-True in 1997 when his long campaign to build a replica of the original Globe Theatre, came to fruition, alas, a little too late for Sam to see. His project, realised in 1997 as Shakespeare’s Globe, opened with a production of Henry V. The building is described as an academic approximation of the original 1599 design based on the available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 theatres. It is situated approximately 750 feet, [230 metres] from the site of the original building which, in itself, seems something of a miracle.

William Shakespeare 1564-1616

He left 26 shillings, 8 pence in his will

to Richard Burbage, "to buy a ring."

And so, let us look back to the origins. The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre which had been constructed by James Burbage of Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbage family had owned the theatre but leased the land on

Richard Burbage 1567-1619

pre-eminent Shakespearean actor

of his day. Major owner of the Globe 

Theatre.

which it stood and when the lease expired in 1598 and the owner of the land, Giles Allen, refused to renew it, claiming the theatre as his, decisive action was taken. A rescue was surreptitiously mounted on December 28, 1598 while Allen was celebrating Christmas
elsewhere. A group of actors and friends of carpenter Peter Street, quietly dismembered the building and took it in its entirety, for storage in his waterfront warehouse in Bridewell. In the following Spring, 1599, the entire collection of constituents was ferried across the Thames to a site on marshy gardens near Maiden Lane, Southwark where a wharf or bank was created to raise the theatre from possible future flooding. The area was a perfect choice: it was outside the control of the City officials, already hostile to the theatre world. Furthermore, there were two established theatres in situ, the Rose and the Crown, and a variety of entertainment outlets such as animal-baiting arenas, taverns and brothels. The subsequent theatre, the Globe, was larger than Burbage’s original and was now partially owned by Richard Burbage, James’s son, an eminent actor, while John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope and William Shakespeare, all members of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men theatre group, bought shares of 10% each. The one, subsequently costly, mistake in the re-building, due to lack of money, was to roof the theatre with thatch instead of tiles.

From Long View of London from Bankside

Wencelaus Hollar 1647

On 29 June, 1613, the relatively new, hugely popular Globe went up in flames after the misfiring of a theatrical cannon set off as part of a performance, ignited the wooden beams and thatching. No lives were lost but the building was razed to the ground though, extraordinarily, was re-built in the following year, roofed in tiles. A bigger menace came with the Puritans who closed all theatres in 1642 and had the theatre pulled down, 1644-45, to make room for tenements. The Globe had been a three-storey open air, amphitheatre, around 100 feet in diameter, that could house up to 3000 spectators. [Current safety regulations limit the modern Globe to an audience of 1400.] In the sketch, then the 1647 etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, Long View of London from Bankside, the Globe is shown as round but in 1988-99, the uncovering of a small part of the Globe’s foundation suggested that it had been a polygon of 20 sides.

Bankside 1647

Inside the theatre, there was a pit or yard, harking back to earlier performances of plays given in inn yards; in the pit, for a penny, the so-called groundlings [peasants] could stand on the rush-strewn earthen floor to watch performances. In the 1989 dig, a layer of close-packed nutshells was found, no doubt providing an extra stratum of hardy ground cover. Around the yard were three vertical levels of seats, more expensive than the one penny standing pit. A rectangular platform, an apron stage, jutted out into and over the open air standing arena at a height of about five feet, and measured roughly 43 feet [13.1 metres] by 27 feet [8.2 metres] The apron stage had a trap door for performers.

Globe to close! [20/05/2020]

The site of Shakespeare’s Globe to give its full modern title, also includes the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, an indoor theatre opened in January 2014 which is a candle-lit space based on the indoor playhouses of Jacobean London. The Sackler Studios, an educational and rehearsal studio complex, is nearby. The modern Globe is an important part of Britain’s cultural landscape but receives no Governmental subsidy, generating 95% of its income from ticket sales, guided tours, education workshops, retail and catering so that this current prolonged closure when some expense nonetheless still continues as in the need for security and online exchange, is challenging. It has recently submitted written evidence to Parliament stating that, after Lock-down, it will need 5 million pounds in emergency funding before it can re-open and begin again generating income from productions and event bookings. It is also asking for donations on its website. It claims, truthfully, that it is a well-run, well-managed and financially resilient enterprise but in the current emergency, “there is no mechanism to help us.”

16th century watercolour of the Globe Theatre.