The Globe Theatre: A Historic Review

That's due to the vision of one man. American actor and director Sam Wanamaker came to London in 1949, expecting to find some sort of monument to the Globe Theatre, but instead he found nothing to mark the site where the theatre had once stood. From then on, it became his life’s mission to put that right. However, Sam didn’t just have some simple statue in mind as a memorial to what was there 400 years earlier. He had a much grander vision, one that involved bringing the Globe back to life for a new generation of theater goers.

It's often easier to have an idea than make it a reality, and that proved to be the case with the Globe. I won't spoil the story, as it's beautifully told in the visitor exhibition at the Globe, but let's just say that building work didn't start on site until 1987, with the construction of the theatre only getting underway six years later in 1993. Sam Wanamaker lived long enough to see that construction start, but sadly he died the same year, without seeing his project completed.

Construction took another four years, but since 1997, every summer has seen performances of some of Shakespeare's greatest works in exactly the same way that they would have been viewed in the days of Elizabethan England. The original Globe was burnt to the ground in 1613, after a fire started in its thatched roof. A mere 50 years later, much of the capital suffered a similar fate in the Great Fire of London. Ever since then, no thatched roofs had been permitted in the city, until the Globe that is. Just another example of the faithfulness of this reconstruction is the fact that there's no roof over the middle of the theatre. So, when you go to see a play there, you're at the mercy of the Great British weather -- and anyone who's ever been to London knows that can mean rain at any time of the year. If you're seated, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but for those standing, they could get wet during a downpour!

So how does the theatre work? There are seats, arranged in three semi-circular tiers, costing between £12 and £32 ($24-$64 at the current exchange rate), or if you really want to experience a taste of theatre in days gone by, you can buy tickets for as little as £5 ($10) and stand in the "Yard" in front of the stage to watch the action. Even if you pay for a seat, you're welcome to wander down and join the standing crowd at any time you want to, but it's not for the faint of heart.