Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Founded by the pioneering American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare's Globe is a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work, and the playhouse for which he wrote, through the connected means of education and performance.
Together, the Globe Theatre Company, Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition and Globe Education seek to further the experience and international understanding of Shakespeare in performance.
The Shakespeare Globe Trust
In 1949, when Sam Wanamaker came to London for the first time, he looked for the site of the original Globe and was disappointed not to find a more lasting memorial to one of the greatest playwrights in the world.
In 1970 he founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust, dedicated to the experience and international understanding of Shakespeare in performance. Its work celebrates the fact that the greatest dramatic poet in the English language lived and worked in London and that the cradle of English theatre was on Bankside by the River Thames.
In 1987, building work began on site when the six-metre deep foundations were laid. In 1993, the construction of the Globe Theatre itself began.
Sadly, Sam Wanamaker died on 18 December 1993. At that time, twelve of the fifteen bays had been erected. The plasterwork and thatching began the following year and were completed in 1997.
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is being developed for the enjoyment and exploration of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in performance. It is a world-class facility on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite St. Paul's Cathedral, in London.
It consists of three enterprises which contribute to the overall aim. These are:
The Globe Theatre, with a professional theatre company incorporating international artists playing a summer season of plays.
Globe Education, which works with students of all ages exploring Shakespeare's scripts in relation to the stage for which they were written.
Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition, the most extensive exhibition in the world devoted to Shakespeare and his contemporaries in performance. Against a historical background of Bankside in Shakespeare's times, it focuses on the Actor and others involved in staging the plays, the Architecture and the craftsmen who built and decorated the playhouse and the Audiences attending the performances.
These three activities together attract more than 750,000 people per annum to Shakespeare's Globe.
The Globe Theatre is at the heart of the centre and is the focus of all three enterprises. It was completed in June 1997. To date, the cost of developing the International Shakespeare Globe Centre and Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition on this 2,100 square metre site has been £30 million. It is estimated that a further £20 million is needed to complete the outstanding phases of the Globe's capital programme.
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
21 New Globe Walk
Bankside
London
SE1 9DT
On foot
Shakespeare's Globe is best accessed on foot. There are excellent footpaths along the river from Waterloo and from Southwark Bridge. The Millennium Footbrige is 25 meters from the Theatre.
By underground
The local stations are Mansion House on the District amd Circle Lines (10 minute walk), London Bridge on the Northern and Jubilee Lines (10 minute walk), Southwark on the Jubilee Line (15 minute walk), and St Paul's on the Central Line (15 minute walk).
By train
The major local stations are London Bridge (10 minute walk), Cannon Street (15 minute walk), Blackfriars (15 minute walk) and Waterloo (25 minute walk).
By bus
Local routes include:
45, 63, 100 to Blackfriars Bridge
15, 17 to Cannon Street
11, 15, 17, 23, 26, 76 to Mansion House
381 to Southwark Street
344 to Southwark Bridge Road
RV1 to Sumner Street.
By car and taxi
Where possible, visitors are advised to arrive by public transport or by taxi.
There is an NCP car park on Upper Thames Street on the north side of Southwark Bridge. The car park closes at 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Parking is very limited around the Globe itself.
Limited parking is possible on New Globe Walk and the surrounding area on display of an orange disabled badge.
Black cabs may be found all year round on Southwark Bridge and at the taxi rank to the west of Tate Modern. During the theatre season there is a regular supply of cabs outside the main foyer on New Globe Walk.
By boat
Bankside Pier is 10 meters from the Theatre.
By hired coach
There is a setting down point on Southwark Bridge, with approximately 40 uneven steps leading to the riverwalk. Wheelchairs can access Shakespeare's Globe by taking Sumner Street on the right beyond the bridge and turning right into Emerson Street which leads into New Globe Walk.
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