Globe Theater Model

The above model was made from details found from historical etchings and prints of the original Globe Theatre. This required quite a bit of research as there were actually three Globe Theatre buildings, and inaccuracies abound. This model represents the Globe as it probably looked around the time that Shakespeare's plays were presented there (1599-1608). When the lease ran out on James Burbage's Theatre in 1598, members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men took most of its timbers across the Thames to a south-bank site close to Henslowe's Rose, where they built the new Globe Theatre. It was polygonal with a three-tiered gallery surrounding an open yard. The stage was 40 to 50 feet wide and the seating capacity was nearly 3000. Shakespeare was among the six "houekeepers" and from 1599 to 1608 most of his finest plays were first publicly performed there. It passed hands to a group known as the Blackfriars Theatre from 1608 to 1609. It was destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt and remained active until 1642. It was demolished in 1644. Excavation was begun in 1989. More historical information is available at the Shakespeare's Globe Research Database.