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The Shakespeare Shoppe - it's an Elizabethan thing ...™ > Elizabethan Theatre T-shirts & Gifts > Elizabethan Theatres T-shirts & Gifts > Globe Theatre T-shirts & Gifts
The Globe Theatre images, as well as designs
relating to The Globe Theater in general can all be found
here on t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, mousepads,
prints, posters, greeting cards and more.
The Globe Theatre refers to one of three theatres
in London associated with William Shakespeare. The
original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the playing
company, Lord Chamberlain's Men, to which Shakespeare
belonged, and was destroyed by fire on June 29, 1613. The Globe
Theatre was rebuilt by June 1614 and closed in 1642. A modern
reconstruction of the original Globe, named "Shakespeare's
Globe Theatre" or the "New Globe Theatre",
opened in 1997. It is approximately 205 meters from the site of
the original theatre off Park Street.
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier
theatre, The Theatre, that had been built by Richard
Burbage's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576.
The Burbages originally had a 21-year lease of the site
on which The Theatre was built, they dismantled The
Theatre beam by beam and transported it over the Thames to
reconstruct it as The Globe.
For participation in this scheme the Burbages selected the
following men: William Shakespeare, not only a successful
actor, but a poet who had already made his reputation as a writer
of plays, and who gave promise of greater attainments; John
Heminges, a good actor and an exceptionally shrewd man of
business, who until his death managed the pecuniary affairs of
the company with distinguished success; Augustine Phillips
and Thomas Pope, both ranked with the best actors of
the day; and William Kempe, the greatest comedian since
Tarleton, described in 1600 as "a player in interludes,
and partly the Queen's Majesty's jester." When to this group
we add Richard Burbage himself, the Roscius of his age,
we have an organization of business, histrionic, and poetic ability
that could not be surpassed. It was carefully planned, and it
deserved the remarkable success which it attained. The superiority
of the Globe Company over all others was acknowledged in
the days of James and Charles, and to-day stands out as one of
the most impressive facts in the history of the early drama.
On June 29, 1613, the Globe Theatre went up in flames
during a performance of Henry the Eighth. A theatrical
cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the
wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving
documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning
breeches were put out with a bottle of ale.
Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe
was closed down by the Puritans in 1642 after it was rebuilt in
1614. It was destroyed in 1644 to make room for tenements. Its
exact location remained unknown until remnants of its foundations
were discovered in 1989 beneath the car park of Anchor Terrace
on Park Street (the shape of the foundations are replicated in
the surface of the car park). There may be further remains beneath
Anchor Terrace, but the 18th century terrace is listed and therefore
cannot be disturbed by archaeologists.
At the instigation of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker,
a new Globe theatre was built according to a design based
on the research of historical advisor John Orrell. It opened in
1997 under the name "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre"
and now stages plays every summer (May to October). Mark Rylance
was appointed as the first artistic director of the modern
Globe in 1995. In 2006, Dominic Dromgoole took over.
The new theatre on Bankside is approximately 225 yards (205m)
from the original site, centre to centre, and was the first thatched
roof building permitted in London since the Great Fire
of London in 1666. Click on a design to see it on a wide range of products including t-shirts, prints, gifts and more!
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