Inside Shakespeare’s mind:

Shakespeare’s globe

Obviously, the foremost thing that would have been on Shakespeare's mind, would have been the Globe that we never saw and was destroyed by fire in 1613.

The new Globe is the work of many people in Southwark and the dream of one man, the incredible Sam Wanamaker (1919-1993).

In 1949 a young American actor came to London and proceeded to examine the site of Shakespeare's Globe and was amazed to find that the only testimony was the existence of a blackened bronze plaque on the wall of a brewery. He was so delighted that he conceived a fitting memorial to the great playwright, a replica of the original Globe.

The enthusiasm, tenacity and energy of Sam Wanamaker inspired the whole world to rebuild the Globe as faithfully as possible and achieved it only a few hundred yards from where Shakespeare's original stood. When each and everyone visit the new Globe, one is witnessing the fulfillment of Sam's dream.

First globe

Fortunately a lot of evidence existed for us to know what the first Globe looked like. Though much were circumstantial, there were sufficient clues that were sufficient to construct what the original Globe resembled. The Globe and The Rose stand out as contemporary engravings of London as landmarks in South Bank.

The most tangible evidence is the archeology. In 1989, archaeologists working on a redevelopment site east of Rose Alley incovered the remains of the Rose Theatre. Encouraged by this fortunate discovery, the archaeologists of the Museum of London tried to locate the Globe and in October the same year, discovered about 5% of the foundations and were able to evaluate them. Part of the Globe was buried under Southwark Bridge Road and more beneath the Anchor Terrace. However, which part of the theatre the foundations represented are still unclear. Yet, the fragments helped scholars to predict the shape and dimensions of the Globe. The future is bound to reveal more and archaeologists are keeping their fingers crossed.

One solitary engraving of the first Globe by John Nordon survives. So also does an engraving on the second Globe which was built on the foundations of the first and Elizabethan playhouses were not built like dough nuts and however rounded they looked from a distance. Wood did not lend itself easily to circular constructions and the frame of the Globe needed to be strong to support the three galleries.

Setting the frame

Twenty huge timbers rising to thirty-two feet from the low brick plinth wall running round the foundation trenches formed the main fame of the new Globe.

Entrances and exit galleries

No timber is perfectly straight, therefore, each beam had to be individually and marked for assembling into its own unique place. For three months twelve workmen combed through the forest of Thames at Sonnings to cut down trees and hew and rough-cut in their saw pits. In the 1990s the same traditional techniques were used to build the New Globe. Every bay is made of a number of frames and many timbers. The frames were all assembled on the floor of Peter McCurdy's workshop near Newbury before being disassembled for transporting to Banksade.

These needed careful and correct planning. This had to be evaluated in a manner to accommodate the cheapest stand in the yard for only one penny. For a second penny a spectator could sit in the gallery. The third penny got him a cushion and a better seat where he could be seen by the audience.

The original Globe held around three thousand people when it buned down in 1613 all three thousand were able to leave safely but the new Globe had to be provided with more exits. There are four exits from the yard and the stair towers have been modified.

Sumptuous stage

Tantalizingly not a single playhouse stage survives but the Swan stage is the only contemporary view based on the original view. On the outside an Elizabethan play house had plans such as lime washed walls but the inside was a blaze of colour. Circumstantial evidence indicated that the Globe had a rectangular stage which projected halfway into the yard. Above the stage is a balcony for musicians and actors.

This could serve as a Juliet's balcony or the walls of Clint Castle in Richard III or Harfleur in Henry V. What is most astonishing to the modern visitor is the size of the great stage cover thrusting out (I too was amazed when I saw it the first time years ago) and is constructed in three parts with a thatched gable and an attached penticice roof with a decorated roof.

This citadel of English and drama has no parallel or venerated by the thousands who flock to pay homage in whose memory Sam Wanamaker built it, will continue to remain his dream ... the dream of Wanamaker, Shakespeare's Globe.

I will be at his Birthplace at Stratford early November ignoring the onset of Winter .... which is more like my annual pilgrimage.