WORLD’S MOST UNIQUE THEATRE

Auckland’s “Pop-up Globe” is the world’s first full-scale temporary working replica of Shakespeare’s second Globe Theatre in London. It was built to offer modern audiences the experience of a Jacobean playhouse to celebrate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.

“Shakespeare’s Globe” in London

 HISTORY OF LONDON’S GLOBE THEATRE

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men was Shakespeare’s favourite group of performers and he wrote most of his plays for them. From 1594 they performed at an Elizabethan playhouse they called ‘The Theatre’ but three years later, landlord issues forced them to relocate 200 yards down the road to the Curtain Theatre. With the popularity of Shakespeare’s plays attracting bigger audiences, the actors dismantled the Curtain Theatre and carried the beams from Shoreditch to south of the Thames at Southwark and in 1599, the Globe theatre opened for business. Unfortunately, the wooden building was destroyed by fire on the 29th June 1613. A second Globe Theatre opened the following year but in September 1642 Parliament ordered the closure of all London theatres because they promoted too much “lascivious mirth and levity”. Under the act, actors were classed as rogues and audiences were likely to be fined if they attended any theatres that defied the ban. read more