Shakespeare’s Globe London

Built on the site of the original 1599 Globe Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe is a faithful recreation of its predecessor — albeit with a few modern practicalities. Founded in 1997 by Sam Wanamaker, the 1570-seat open-air space and its adjoining Jacobean-style indoor Sam Wanamaker Theatre are (unsurprisingly) the home of Shakespeare in London.

The Globe is famous both as a cultural landmark and as the place to explore and enjoy Shakespeare’s stories. It also strives to celebrate innovation as well as tradition, premiering multiple new works and becoming the first theatre to offer its plays in a video-on-demand service (Globe Player).

Find out what’s on at Shakespeare’s Globe

Shakespeare’s Globe Shows
Since its inception, the “wooden O” has hosted performances of every single one of the bard’s works in a variety of both faithful and experimental retellings and adaptations. It has seen performances from world-famous actors like Mark Rylance (also the Artistic Director from 1995-2005), Dame Judi Dench, Sir Laurence Olivier, Stephen Fry, David Tennant, Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, and Gemma Arterton.

Shakespeare’s Globe also produces several pieces of new or contemporary writing every year. Notable recent examples include Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights and a reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Fir Tree — both written by Globe Writer-in-Residence Hannah Khalil.

Shakespeare’s Globe Awards

The theatre has received numerous awards and nominations, both for its Shakespearean works and contemporary plays. It commissioned the 2018 play Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, which went on to transfer to the West End and win three Olivier Awards, including Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. 2013/4’s Twelfth Night won one Olivier and was nominated for four others, including Best Revival and Best Actor for Mark Rylance. Roger Hallam won the Best Actor Olivier in 2011 for Henry IV Parts 1 & 2.

Gugu Mbatha Raw’s performance in Nell Gwynn was also nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award in 2015 while Matthew Kelly was nominated for Best Actor in 2009’s Troilus and Cressida.

Alongside its main programming, the Globe runs several education and accessibility initiatives around Shakespeare’s work, other Elizabethan playwrights, and contemporary writing. Its Read Not Dead series started in 1995 and aimed to revive forgotten Elizabethan with script-in-hand performances. The theatre also explores in-depth critical analyses of Shakespeare with its Research in Action programme, the Shakespeare and Race Festival, and the Globe to Globe Festival, which saw assorted Shakespearean classics reimagined in different cultures and languages.

Shakespeare’s Globe Location

Shakespeare’s Globe is on the south bank of the Thames, next to the Bankside ferry terminal and next to the Tate Modern and its Community Garden.

21 New Globe Walk, London SE1 9DT