h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The original Globe Theatre opened in 1599 and one of the first plays was Will Shakespeare’s new blockbuster, Henry V. The modern Globe theatre opened in 1997 with a production of Henry V. The play and the theatre are linked forever by the character of the Chorus, who asks us to piece out the player’s imperfections with our thoughts.

To be present in the playhouse as the Chorus asks the rhetorical question, ‘can this wooden O contain the vasty fields of France’ is genuinely thrilling to a Shakespeare geek.

The first purpose built theatres in London were erected in Shoreditch, to the north of the city of London. All theatres and other places of entertainment had to be located outside the city as the city fathers frowned upon such establishments, rating bear baiting, theatre and brothels at the same level of depravity. The actual city of London was quite small in the 16th century, as the official ‘City of London’ is even today, running from the border with Westminster to the Tower of London in the east and north from the river to Aldersgate.

James Burbage, father to Cuthbert, and Richard, the great actor for whom Will would create some of his greatest characters, built the first theatre in 1576, which in a stroke of advertising genius he promptly named ‘The Theatre’. Shakespeare would have worked in this theatre for a significant portion of his career. In 1598 a dispute over the renewing of the lease caused problems. The owner of the land Giles Allen refused to renew it.

The Burbages decided that whilst the land was Allen’s, the theatre was theirs. To forestall any lengthy and expensive legal battles they waited until Allen had returned to his country home in Essex for Christmas and then, with the aid a some labourers and the carpenter Peter Street, they dismantled the building, loaded it onto carts and eventually transported it across the river to a new site at Southwark. In 1613 this Globe Theatre burned down and was replaced by Globe II. This was in its turn demolished in 1644 when the Puritan led government closed all theatres.

And so to the modern Globe. Its story starts a long way away across the pond in 1943 when an actor and director, Sam Wanamaker, appeared in a play called ‘Counterattack’ in Washington. During this play he became interested in the ideals of socialism and joined the American Communist Party. Between 1943 he served in the US Navy and returned to his acting career in 1947. This was a dark period in the history of the Land of the Not As Free as You Thought.

Walt Disney had just been subjected to a strike by his artists and cartoonists which he fervently believed was communist inspired. In the heated post war atmosphere, with ‘reds under the beds’, and conspiracies rampant (no change there), the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, as un American an activity as could possibly be imagined, turned on Hollywood and the entertainment industry and began blacklisting anyone suspected of ‘sympathies’.

Sam was working on a film in England in 1952 when he heard that he had been blacklisted. He decided to remain in England, a country which doesn’t actually mind what you think and allows any activity as long as it doesn’t frighten the horses. Sam became obsessed with the idea of recreating the Globe on the riverbank. He worked tirelessly his whole life to try to make his dream a reality, even putting a large portion of his income into the project.

Eventually he succeeded and on 12th June 1997 Queen Elizabeth opened the new Globe. Sadly Sam had died of prostate cancer four years before and so never saw his project come to life. Part of the site of the new Globe was used for retaurants, shops rehearsal rooms and stores, and it was eventually decided that it would be nice to use some of the space to recreate the indoor theatre at the Blackfriars that Shakespeares company had added to their playing spaces in the early 1600’s.

On 9th January 2014 the first production, ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ will open at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

From the bottom of our hearts (and even the heart of our Bottom’s), thank you Sam.

Deb

[Amy P]

Amen!