Each year well over an estimated million theatre goers visit The Globe Theatre on London’s Southbank, situated along the River Thames. Unbeknownst to many of them, this is not the first location of this prestigious amphitheater. In fact, this is most likely the third iteration of the this esteemed premises.
Just a stone’s throw away from this current iteration, is a small side-street, Park Street. It was here that the prolific playwright William Shakespeare, (1564 -1616) and his acting troupe, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, hand built the original open-air theater in the round in 1599.
It was at this location that many of Shakespeare’s most famous plays had their premiers. During the night of June 16th, 1613, while a production of Henry VIII was performing, the timber structure caught fire and burnt down. It was rebuilt only to be destroyed in the 1640’s by entertainment hating Puritans. The current Globe Theater was painstakingly reconstructed and overseen by American actor and director Sam Wanamaker (1919 – 1993) and re-opened in 1997.
Today, the area between Park Street and Potter Terrace is a residential housing complex. On the ground of the resident’s parking lot is a metal plate indicating the layout of the original Globe Theater. There are also three information placards that contain information pertaining to Shakespeare and his illustrious endeavors.
