Summary
No one knows how William Shakespeare's Globe really looked. The polygonal theater was constructed across the River Thames from central London in 1599 by a company of actors called the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was destroyed by fire in 1613 and rebuilt to open the following year. After the Puritan-led Parliament closed down all public theaters in England, the Globe was demolished in 1644. No drawings survive to show the precise size and shape of the original theater or its subsequent reconstruction.
Despite this lack of documentation, "replicas" and reinterpretations of the Globe have been built all over the world. An engaging small exhibition at the National Building Museum, part of the Shakespeare festival being staged all around town, uses these speculative re-creations to challenge the myths that have sprung up around the Bard's building.See the full content of this document
Extract
Shakespeare's Global Appeal
In tracing the development of Shakespearean theater from the 1600s to modern times, it asserts that "Globe-ness" - particularly the intimate bond between actors and audience - is not dependent on any historical model but can be achieved through even the most contemporary means. Five theater designs ...
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