Shakespeare 2016

To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, a full-scale temporary working replica of the second Globe Theatre has popped up in Auckland, and it’s fantastic. It’s an experience not to be missed for fans of great theatre.

The Pop-up Globe is hosting some of Shakespeare’s best known plays, in the setting they were written for. The combination of Shakespeare’s work performed in the theatre it was written for made the Globe one of the most important theatres in history.

Actors and academics have often tried to recreate the ‘original’ staging conditions of Shakespeare’s own theatres. Pop-up Globe is the world’s first faithful reconstruction of this second Globe Theatre, and has been constructed so today’s audience can enjoy the same experience as theatre goers 400 years ago. Pop-up Globe is capped with an onion dome, a unique signature design element which will be remarkable feature of the Auckland cityscape, just as it would have been for the Globe on its site by the Thames. It’s a very different size and shape to the modern Globe theatre in London.

Wherever you sit or stand in Pop Up Globe, you’ll be within 15 metres of the action on stage. The stage itself is vast by usual standards, which gives the actors plenty of room to bring the plays to life. It is an intimate and inclusive setting – audience members are encouraged to laugh, clap, sing and interact. It’s a lively and stimulating experience and goes to show how creative genius is timeless.

Shakespeare pushed the boundaries of stagecraft and stage infrastructure. In fact, experts still don’t know exactly how some important scenes would have been staged with the technology available during his lifetime.

Pop-up Globe is an open air amphitheatre, with covered seating and an open area to stand, so depending on when you go, you may need to take an umbrella or sunscreen, which adds to the fun!

Over the coming season, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Titus, Antony and Cleopatra and Hamlet will be performed by several theatre companies.

Click here for more information.