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Shakespeare's Globe opens indoor theatre to stage winter's tales Shakespeare's Globe opens indoor theatre to stage winter's tales
(5 months later)
Shakespeare's Globe is to create a company of child actors for its new, candlelit indoor theatre – despite the fact that the craze for pint-sized players was sneered at by the bard himself in Hamlet: "an eyrie of children, little eyasses that cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped for it".Shakespeare's Globe is to create a company of child actors for its new, candlelit indoor theatre – despite the fact that the craze for pint-sized players was sneered at by the bard himself in Hamlet: "an eyrie of children, little eyasses that cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped for it".
The company of boys and girls, aged between 12 and 16 and recruited and trained from October, will appear for the first time next year, when the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opens, fulfilling the dream of the Globe's founder of creating a winter indoor theatre to match the summer outdoor seasons.The company of boys and girls, aged between 12 and 16 and recruited and trained from October, will appear for the first time next year, when the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opens, fulfilling the dream of the Globe's founder of creating a winter indoor theatre to match the summer outdoor seasons.
The Globe's artistic director, Dominic Dromgoole, promises an opening season embracing high tragedy, low farce, opera, early music, and what he cheerfully described as the "absolutely filthy humour" of the Rubberbandits, the Irish duo and YouTube sensation who perform with supermarket carrier bags on their heads. Seat prices will range from £10 to £45.The Globe's artistic director, Dominic Dromgoole, promises an opening season embracing high tragedy, low farce, opera, early music, and what he cheerfully described as the "absolutely filthy humour" of the Rubberbandits, the Irish duo and YouTube sensation who perform with supermarket carrier bags on their heads. Seat prices will range from £10 to £45.
The performances will be entirely lit by candle, after Dromgoole rounded up all the local authority fire safety officers and consultants and herded them into the candlelit, half-built shell of the theatre to convince them it would be safe.The performances will be entirely lit by candle, after Dromgoole rounded up all the local authority fire safety officers and consultants and herded them into the candlelit, half-built shell of the theatre to convince them it would be safe.
Despite the dismal roll call of London theatres that have burned to the ground over centuries, including the original Globe, Drumgoole is unshakably confident in the experiment. "Oak is remarkable stuff," he insisted. "You can turn a blowlamp on oak for half an hour and it just chars."Despite the dismal roll call of London theatres that have burned to the ground over centuries, including the original Globe, Drumgoole is unshakably confident in the experiment. "Oak is remarkable stuff," he insisted. "You can turn a blowlamp on oak for half an hour and it just chars."
The first play when the 360-seat theatre opens next January, with the audience stacked up in steep tiers and the cheapest, standing-room tickets high up at the top, will be John Webster's brutal tragedy The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Dromgoole. He pointed out that the text – "such a shadowy, penumbrous, dark play" – is shot through with references to light and darkness, and stage effects that depend on shadows and deception.The first play when the 360-seat theatre opens next January, with the audience stacked up in steep tiers and the cheapest, standing-room tickets high up at the top, will be John Webster's brutal tragedy The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Dromgoole. He pointed out that the text – "such a shadowy, penumbrous, dark play" – is shot through with references to light and darkness, and stage effects that depend on shadows and deception.
It will be followed by Francis Beaumont's rollicking The Knight of the Burning Pestle, a play within a play within a play, satirising all its own characters and almost all of Beaumont's contemporary authors: "the most meta-play ever written", according to Dromgoole.It will be followed by Francis Beaumont's rollicking The Knight of the Burning Pestle, a play within a play within a play, satirising all its own characters and almost all of Beaumont's contemporary authors: "the most meta-play ever written", according to Dromgoole.
Although The Knight may have been performed by child actors, the little eyasses' first appearance will be in April in The Malcontent, a comedy written by John Marston for the Children of the Chapel, appearing just across the river at the Blackfriars.Although The Knight may have been performed by child actors, the little eyasses' first appearance will be in April in The Malcontent, a comedy written by John Marston for the Children of the Chapel, appearing just across the river at the Blackfriars.
Dromgoole said that,while they could just have gone to a public school, such as Eton or Dulwich College, and conscripted a whole cast of confident young actors, they wanted to cast the net wide, bringing together children from the widest possible backgrounds. The company is intended to be permanent, with younger members recruited as older ones leave.Dromgoole said that,while they could just have gone to a public school, such as Eton or Dulwich College, and conscripted a whole cast of confident young actors, they wanted to cast the net wide, bringing together children from the widest possible backgrounds. The company is intended to be permanent, with younger members recruited as older ones leave.
And, cash-strapped but stage-struck teenagers may note, they will be paid, though the rate has not yet been agreed.And, cash-strapped but stage-struck teenagers may note, they will be paid, though the rate has not yet been agreed.
The season will also see the first co-production between the Royal Opera and the Globe, in Francesco Cavalli's L'Ormindo. First performed in a small theatre in Venice in 1644, it is directed this time by no less than Covent Garden's head of opera, Kasper Holten, who said he couldn't resist the chance to experiment with the greatest original instrument of all, the new theatre itself.The season will also see the first co-production between the Royal Opera and the Globe, in Francesco Cavalli's L'Ormindo. First performed in a small theatre in Venice in 1644, it is directed this time by no less than Covent Garden's head of opera, Kasper Holten, who said he couldn't resist the chance to experiment with the greatest original instrument of all, the new theatre itself.
He described the opera as "outrageous and shamelessly entertaining", with a plot including a sex-starved nymphomaniac queen whose suitors include her husband's son.He described the opera as "outrageous and shamelessly entertaining", with a plot including a sex-starved nymphomaniac queen whose suitors include her husband's son.
The main theatre reopens on Tuesday, on Shakespeare's birthday, while behind locked doors, in the remodelled foyer, work continues on fitting together the thousands of pieces of oak that make up what Dromgoole calls "the biggest Lego set in the world".The main theatre reopens on Tuesday, on Shakespeare's birthday, while behind locked doors, in the remodelled foyer, work continues on fitting together the thousands of pieces of oak that make up what Dromgoole calls "the biggest Lego set in the world".
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