シェイクスピア・グローブ座、バンクサイド

Shakespeare's Globe stands on the south bank of the Thames in Bankside, a faithful reconstruction of the open-air playhouse where many of Shakespeare's greatest works were first performed. Today it draws audiences from around the world, offering a uniquely immersive theatrical experience where groundlings stand in the yard just as Elizabethan crowds once did. Whether you are a first-time visitor or a seasoned theatregoer, an evening or afternoon at the Globe is unlike anything else London has to offer.

The original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the playing company to which William Shakespeare belonged, using timber salvaged from an earlier Shoreditch playhouse. It stood on Bankside until it was destroyed by fire in 1613, was rebuilt shortly after, and was eventually demolished in 1644. The site lay largely forgotten for centuries until the twentieth century brought renewed interest in recovering this piece of theatrical history.

The reconstruction of the Globe was the lifelong passion of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, who arrived in London in the late 1940s and was struck by the absence of any meaningful memorial to Shakespeare near the site of the original theatre. After decades of campaigning, fundraising and planning, construction of the new Globe began in the 1980s using traditional materials and Elizabethan building techniques. The venue opened to the public in the mid 1990s, though it was not fully complete until 1997.

Since opening, the Globe has staged a vast range of productions spanning Shakespeare's complete canon as well as works by his contemporaries and new writing. It has become as important as a centre for research, education and debate about early modern theatre as it is a working playhouse, welcoming scholars, students and audiences in equal measure.