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Secondary sourceArtifact1599

The Globe Theatre

1599

A Southwark playhouse built in 1599 by Shakespeare's acting company, in which he held a part-ownership share and where most of his great plays were first staged.

Shakespeare was a part-owner of this theatre, built by his own acting company, where most of his major plays were first performed.

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Exterior of a modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre in London: a large round timber-framed building with white plaster panels, a thatched roof, and wrought-iron gates, with visitors and banners in front.
The Globe Theatre, built 1599, Southwark, London (modern reconstruction shown, opened 1997).

About this source

What it is

The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 at Southwark, near the Thames, by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the acting company to which Shakespeare belonged. It was constructed partly from timber reused from an earlier theatre. The building burned down in 1613 and was rebuilt the following year.

Why it matters

Shakespeare was one of several shareholders in the Globe, alongside actors such as Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, and Thomas Pope. As a part-owner as well as a playwright, Shakespeare had a direct financial stake in the success of his own plays, which were performed here. The theatre's history, including its destruction by fire during a performance of Henry VIII, reveals the physical risks and realities of Elizabethan theatre.

Look closer

  • Why might it have mattered to Shakespeare's career that he owned a share in the theatre as well as writing for it?
  • What does the theatre's destruction by fire tell us about the technology and safety of the period?
  • How does the modern reconstruction help or limit our understanding of the original building?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Shakespeare on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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