Synopsis:
The rebuilding of the Globe theater (1599-1613) on London's Bankside, a few yards from the site of the playhouse in which many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed, must rank as one of the most imaginative enterprises of recent decades. The realization of the vision of Sam Wanamaker and his architect Theo Crosby, it has aroused intense interest among scholars and the general public worldwide. In anticipation of the official opening and the first performance season, visitors have been drawn in large numbers to the auditorium and exhibition. Shakespeare's Globe Rebuilt offers a fully-illustrated account of the research that has gone into the Globe reconstruction, drawing on the work of leading scholars, theater people and craftsmen to provide an authoritative view of the twenty years of research and the hundreds of practical decisions entailed. Documents of the period, both visual and written, have been explored anew; the techniques of timber-framed building have been relearned; the archaeology of the Globe and the neighboring Rose playhouse has been further evaluated; the decorative practices of Elizabethan craftsmen have been researched; and all this reconciled with the requirements of the actors and the practical and legal restrictions of modern architectural design. The result is a book that will fascinate scholarly readers and laymen alike.
Review:
This book is a gorgeously illustrated tribute to a 400-year-old dream fulfilled. American actor Sam Wanamaker was stunned in the 1960s to learn that a London cabdriver could not show him the site of William Shakespeare's original theater, the famed "wooden O," nor was the site marked in any way. Thus began a modern feat of archaeology, research, craftsmanship, statesmanship, and fundraising that resulted in 1997 in the grand reopening of a rebuilt Globe--accurate down to the circular seating pattern, the wooden benches, the roofless courtyard "groundling" space, the thatched towers, and the flagpole that announces performances. The reborn theater instantly takes its place among the eight theatrical wonders of the world, with each detail lovingly hand-crafted--as is this book.
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