Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare’s Globe stands beside the Thames in Southwark, a faithful timber-and-thatch reconstruction of the 1599 playhouse where Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. The modern building sits about 230 metres from the original site, close to the remains of the Rose Theatre discovered during planning. Queen Elizabeth II opened the theatre in 1997 with a river procession, and the complex now includes an indoor candle-lit playhouse named for its founder, Sam Wanamaker. The theatre is the result of more than twenty years of research led by Wanamaker and historian John Orrell, who studied surviving contracts, drawings and nearby buildings of the period. The oak frame uses mortise-and-tenon joints without steel, and the thatched roof is protected by fire retardants and sprinklers. Capacity is 1,573, roughly half the original 3,000, yet the open yard and three tiers still recreate the Elizabethan experience. Visitors find a thrust stage jutting into a circular yard, surrounded by raked benches and a modern lobby with restaurant and shop. Tours run year-round, while summer productions use daylight and live music without amplification. The indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse offers smaller candle-lit performances in a Jacobean setting.