Sam Wanamaker Theatre
As the modern Globe was under construction an indoor theatre was built next door, a "simulacrum" of the sixteenth-century Blackfriars Theatre from the opposite side of the Thames. Initially used as a rehearsal space, and for education projects, funding has now progressed to a stage where fitting out as a public theatre can begin, with a proposed opening in 2013.
Although the original Blackfriars building was erected in 1566, during Elizabeth's reign, local residents had successfully petitioned against it and the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's playing company, did not begin to use it until 1608, five years into Jacobean era. As no reliable plans of this structure are known, a design by John Webb from about fifty years later was adapted, believed to be similar in shape and design.
On 24 February 2012, it was announced that the new theatre would be named the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, after the trust's founder, and work on it would commence in October that year. It was also announced that the total cost would be £7 million, and that an anonymous donor had pledged £1 for every £1 the theatre itself raised, up to a maximum of £3 million.
The first production will be The Duchess of Malfi, opening on 9 January 2014.
Read more about this topic: Shakespeare's Globe
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