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The Story, the Struggle, the Site: The Globe Theatre Will Return
| Article
# : |
11341 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1986 |
1,886 Words |
| Author
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Jeff Church
Jeff Church is a playwright-in-residence at The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Programs for Children
and Youth. |
Reconstructing Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is one of those projects most people feel should have been done years ago. But it only takes a few unyielding types to shovel dirt over a good idea. For years, an American actor and producer named Sam Wanamaker has been coordinating efforts to rebuild the Bard's playhouse-ever since Wanamaker moved to London and visited the site. For what he saw was merely a little plaque on the wall noting what once stood there.
Now the green light has been given; the Globe will be rebuilt but it wasn't going to happen until a rather idiotic battle with a town council had been fought, according to Diana Devlin, administrator on the project, in this conversation with The World & I. The playhouse, as history dictated, was not built in London but in Southwark, a borough just across the Thames liver, because laws did not permit Shakespeare and his company to build their theater within the city limits. The feeling at the time was, says Ms. Devlin, "players are riotous and terrible." Similarly, the Southwark [Town] Council implied an equally disquieting accusation: They wanted nothing to do with the Globe, feeling that theater is elitist.
Just the opposite is true for Wanamaker and his staff, who aim to repopularize Shakespeare for the people, just as plays were in his day. Yet, the leader of the Southwark Council summed up his views by stating, "Shakespeare is a load of tosh" Still amused at the gentleman's comment, Ms. Devlin notes, "I was right there when he said it But you know, he's no longer the council's leader." And of all things, the struggle story of the Globe centered on a situation with Southwark's road sweepers. As the tale goes, according to
... (1943 of 10873 Characters)
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