June 3, 1997. Copyright, 1997, Graphic News. All rights reserved

SHAKESPEAREÕS ÔWOODEN OÕ RESTORED TO LIFE 
By Julie Mullins

LONDON, June 3, Graphic News- On June 12, the Queen officially opens the reconstructed Globe Theatre, bringing ShakespeareÕs theatre back to London for the first time in almost 400 years. With opening productions of ÔHenry VÕ and ÔThe WinterÕs TaleÕ, this new Ôwooden OÕ will take its place in the long history of British theatre. 
The original Globe theatre was built in 1599 but was destroyed by fire in 1613 when a spark from a stage cannon during a performance of ÔHenry VIIIÕ set the thatch alight. Although rebuilt immediately on the original foundations, it was closed in 1642 when the Puritans banned all places of entertainment as immoral, and the theatres of LondonÕs notorious Bankside area were torn down.
In 1949, the American actor Sam Wanamaker arrived in London for the first time, expecting to find the theatre where the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries were first performed. But Sam was to be disappointed Ð all he found was a blackened plaque on an old brewery wall marking the site where the Globe once stood.
Undeterred, Wanamaker determined to rebuild the Globe and set about raising funds, establishing the Globe Playhouse Trust in 1970. Southwark Council offered him a riverside site close to that of the original theatre, and in 1987 the site was cleared, ready for the ground-breaking ceremony. Sadly, Sam Wanamaker died in 1993, unable to see his dream completed but secure in the knowledge that London would regain its famous Tudor landmark. In August 1994, the ShakespeareÕs Globe Exhibition opened, since when over 250,000 visitors have seen the rebuilding of an Elizabethan theatre in progress. Last August a full production, ÔTwo Gentlemen of VeronaÕ, was staged to resolve difficulties with acoustics and sightlines before a permanent stage was constructed ahead of this monthÕs official opening.
The Globe has been rebuilt to authentic specifications, with master craftsmen using solid oak, brick, lime plaster and thatch to recreate the theatre as Shakespeare would have recognised it. Twentieth century safety concerns have necessitated a greater number of doors, widened to ensure proper fire exits, while all building materials have been fireproofed. And, mindful of the fate of the first Globe theatre, the thatched roof Ð the first in central London since the Great Fire of 1666 Ð has been treated with fire-retarding chemicals and has a sprinkler system installed along the ridge.
The new Globe will hold 1,000 people seated on wooden benches in each of the three-storey bays, and 500 ÔgroundlingsÕ occupying the standing area around the stage. In ShakespeareÕs time these would have paid one penny to see the play, but will now have to fork out £5.00. Actors and seated audience are protected from the elements but if it rains, the groundlings get wet Ð umbrellas are not permitted. All performances will take place in daylight, the season running between May and September.
Rebuilding the Globe has not come cheap. Over the years, Sam WanamakerÕs project expanded, so that the theatre now forms the centrepiece of the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, a complex of buildings including a small, indoor theatre for contemporary playreadings, a cinema and lecture hall, an audio-visual Archive and Library and the ongoing exhibition. Total costs amount to around £30 million, with the Globe itself accounting for £4 million Ð something of a jump from the original 1599 bill of under £1,000! A grant of £12.5 million from the National Lottery has ensured funding for the two theatres but the project is still £6.5 million short of its total. The GlobeÕs fund raising efforts have some way to go as yet.

Sources: International Shakespeare Globe Centre