Globe Theatre Opens
The Globe Theatre, home of Shakespeare's company, opened on the south bank of the Thames
January 01, 1599
A Theater Built by Actors
The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the acting company known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men, of which William Shakespeare was a part-owner. The company had previously performed at a theater north of the River Thames called simply "The Theatre," but when their lease expired and the landlord refused to renew it, they dismantled the building's timber frame and transported it across the river to Southwark, where they used the wood to construct the Globe. Shakespeare held a roughly 12.5 percent ownership stake in the new theater, meaning he profited not only as a playwright and actor but as a co-owner of the venue where his plays were staged.
Where Shakespeare's Greatest Works Were Performed
The Globe was a roughly circular, open-air theater that could hold between 1,500 and 3,000 spectators. The audience who paid the cheapest admission — called "groundlings" — stood in the open central area in front of the stage. Wealthier audience members sat in covered galleries. The stage jutted out into the audience, allowing actors to be surrounded by spectators on three sides. It was at the Globe that many of Shakespeare's greatest plays were first performed, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and probably many others. The theater burned down in 1613 when a cannon used as a sound effect during a performance set the thatched roof on fire.
The Globe Today
A reconstructed Globe Theatre — built as close to the original as possible using Elizabethan construction techniques — opened near the original site in London in 1997, the work of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker who campaigned for its creation for decades. Today, Shakespeare's Globe presents plays year-round, including open-air performances in the summer that replicate the atmosphere of the original theater. Groundlings can still stand in front of the stage for a modest price and experience Shakespeare the way Londoners did four centuries ago. The Globe stands as a monument to one of the greatest writers in the English language and to the theatrical tradition he helped define.