THE GLOBE THEATRE

In 1949, an American actor Sam Wanamaker came to London and decided to visit the site of the famous Globe Theatre where Shakespeare had staged his plays. All he found, however, was a plaque on the wall of a brewery: "Here stood the Globe Playhouse of Shakespeare". Wanamaker was so shocked that he decided to rebuild the Globe.

It took many years to raise the money, get permission and find out exactly what the place looked like in the old days.

On June 12 1997, Her Majesty the Queen opened the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, the re-creation of Shakespeare's theatre. Unfortunately, Sam Wanamaker died in 1993 and wasn't in the audience to see his dream finally come true.

Today, you can visit the beautiful new Globe, and in summer you can even see a play performed as it would have been in Shakespeare's day.

The architects who have worked on the building believe the new theatre is as close to the original as it is possible to be.

Shows at the new Globe are staged in much the same way as they were then — with no scenery, spotlights or microphones. And, as in Shakespeare's time, the crowd is free to join in, calling out to the actors and getting involved in the story.

Women now play on the stage of the Globe, but on special occasions you can experience Shakespeare's plays the way his audience would have: an all-male performance in original clothing and without interval. If it rains, however, you'll be given a rain hat so that you wouldn't get wet to the skin.

The theatre's artistic director, Mark Rylance, says that his dream is "to reawaken a love of words — a theatre for the heart, not just the intellect". He expects the audiences to move around, talk, drink beer and throw fruit at the actors as they did in Shakespeare's time.

(from Speak Out, abridged)