The three Globe Theatres

There have been three theatres on the south bank of the River Thames in London that have been given the name ‘Globe’, but their histories have been very different, especially when that of Number 3 is set alongside those of Numbers 1 and 2.

The First Globe Theatre

This was built in 1599 by the Burbage brothers. Richard Burbage was a leading actor-manager whose company, known as the Chamberlain’s Men (and they were all men, even those that played the female parts), included a quite useful playwright by the name of William Shakespeare.

Burbage was the first actor to play many of Shakespeare’s greatest roles, including Romeo, Henry V, Othello and Macbeth. It was the stage of the Globe Theatre where these performances took place.

There is some doubt about the exact appearance and dimensions of the original Globe. It is believed to have been 20-sided and shaped like a ring doughnut about 100 feet across, with the centre open to the skies. This was where most of the stage was located as well as standing room for the ‘penny stinkards’. The surrounding structure, in which wealthier patrons had seats in several tiers of boxes, was roofed with thatch, which is why the first Globe had to be succeeded by a second.

It was during a performance of ‘King Henry VIII’ (probably a collaboration between William Shakespeare and John Fletcher) on 29^th June 1613 that a cannon was fired on stage as a special effect but had the unfortunate result of setting fire to the thatch. The theatre, which was built entirely of wood, burnt down to the ground, taking less than an hour to do so.

The Second Globe Theatre

Rebuilding started soon after the site had been cleared and the new Globe opened for business early in 1615, although this time with a tiled roof instead of thatch. William Shakespeare died in 1616, but his plays, and those of other Jacobean and later playwrights, continued to be performed to enthusiastic audiences right through to 1642.

However, the Puritans who ruled the capital in 1642, at the outbreak of the English Civil War, decreed that theatres were dens of vice (they had a point) and must all be destroyed. The site of the Globe was given over to house-building, so it was not possible to rebuild the Globe when theatres were again permitted after the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660.

The Third Globe Theatre

The clock now winds forward 300 years, when the American actor Sam Wanamaker conceived the idea of building a full-scale replica of the Globe as close as possible to the original site.

Sam Wanamaker (born 1919) fell foul of the Un-American Activities Committee in 1952 while he was filming in Great Britain. Having been blacklisted for his previous membership of the American Communist Party, he decided to stay put in Britain which then became his home (and that of his daughter Zoe who was only three years old at the time but would grow up to become a leading actress in her own right).

Wanamaker had long been a lover of all things Shakespearean and, from 1970, it became his obsession to rebuild the Globe. He met considerable opposition at first, and he needed to raise more than 10 million dollars for the project, but building started in 1987 on a site about 200 yards away from that of the first two Globes (which was covered by modern buildings).

Unfortunately, Sam Wanamaker did not live to see his dream become reality. He died in 1993 and the Globe was not finished until 1997. He is commemorated by having the nearby Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (opened in January 2014) named after him. This is another reconstruction, namely of the Elizabethan Blackfriars Theatre.

The new Globe is as faithful to the original as could be managed, given that there are no 16^th/17^th century architect’s plans from which the designers could work. The construction was made from English oak, the seats are simple benches, and there is even a thatched roof – this is the only building in London for which the ban on thatch (imposed after the Great Fire of 1666) has been lifted. However, modern fire retardants have been used to ensure that a repeat of the 1613 disaster is unlikely!

There is little doubt that William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, were Doctor Who able to arrange their presence, would feel at home in the third Globe Theatre, where authentic performances of period plays are given regularly during the summer season.

© John Welford