Shakespeare’s Globe: The Replica That Takes the Work Seriously

Shakespeare’s Globe on Bankside is not the original. The original burned in 1613 when a cannon fired for a theatrical effect during a performance of Henry VIII set the thatched roof alight. This one opened in 1997, built on the same design principles as the 1599 theatre, 230 metres from the original site, using traditional joinery, hand-made bricks, and thatch.

The decision to go the full reconstruction route was Sam Wanamaker’s, an American actor who moved to London in 1949 and spent 23 years pursuing the project before dying in 1993, four years before it opened. The Globe is his monument.

Watching a Play

The playing season runs April through October. Performances happen in the open-air yard regardless of weather; the groundling tickets (standing in the yard directly in front of the stage) cost £5-10 and are the best value in London for theatre. You stand, possibly in rain, for 2-3 hours, and the experience of watching Shakespeare performed three metres away in close to the original performance conditions is unlike anything a conventional theatre offers.

Seated gallery tickets run £25-65. The middle gallery at the back gives the overview position; the lower galleries at the sides put you close to the stage action.

Book in advance for weekend performances. Weeknight groundling tickets for most shows are available at the door. The Hamlet and Richard III productions here have been particularly strong over the past decade.

The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse next door is an indoor candlelit Jacobean theatre used in winter months for smaller plays. Tickets £20-55. The candles are real; the light quality gives the space something genuinely different from modern theatre.

The Exhibition

The Globe runs a free-with-performance-ticket or paid exhibition (around £17 standalone) covering the Elizabethan theatre scene, the building’s reconstruction, and performance history. The guided tour is informative; the exhibition staff know the building well.

Bankside

The Globe sits on the South Bank, 5 minutes’ walk from Tate Modern and 15 minutes from Borough Market. The Tate Modern turbine hall exhibition changes several times a year and is free. Borough Market (Monday-Saturday, 10:00-17:00, extends to 08:00 on Friday) is genuinely good for food: cheese from Neal’s Yard, Monmouth Coffee (queue expected), and good charcuterie stalls throughout.

The Anchor pub at the end of Bankside dates from the 17th century and serves decent pub food for around £15-20 per main. Samuel Johnson and James Boswell are supposed to have drunk here; whether true or not, it’s a reasonable location for a pre-show drink.

Getting There

Southwark station (Jubilee line) is 5 minutes’ walk. London Bridge station (Jubilee and Northern lines, also National Rail) is 10 minutes. Walking over Blackfriars Bridge or Millennium Bridge from the north gives you the Thames view as you arrive.