Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Facing Closure

God, This Is Depressing

I refuse to believe this is a possibility.

BeNice said: "IF this is true, I can totally see Cameron Mackintosh or Andrew LW swooping in to purchase. They already own half of the theatres in the West End."



Having two of the biggest titans of commercial theatre in the UK buying the venues off the hands of non-profit companies and using the spaces for their own profit is entirely contrary to the spirit of both of these theatres. At that point, they might as well close, because it's essentially the same thing.

Now, if Macintosh or ALW wanted to DONATE enough money to these theatre companies that they could continue running, that's a different matter, and I would entirely support that.

Updated On: 5/19/20 at 07:43 PM

JBroadway said: "I've seen other reports that the Donmar is in the same position.

The Donmar closing would be devastating, I can't even believe something like that could happen.

Wick3 said: "JBroadway said: "I don't know Emma Rice nor the firing but I just read this article from BBC that stated she may have been fired due to her trying to modernize the lighting/sound of the Globe?"



Yes, it was quite the scandal at the time. This whole debacle coincidentally happened during the short time I was living in London, so I was following it very closely. It's all very complicated, and I sympathize with both sides of the argument, but I tend to fall on "team Emma" (hence, me being less sympathetic toward the Globe because of their decision to fire her). Here is a discussion on Tumblr that laid out both sides of the argument very eloquently:

https://sonnetsandsoliloquies.tumblr.com/post/152408436002/emma-rices-departure-is-not-about-lighting

GlindatheGood22 said: "Much as I love Donmar, it's harder for me to imagine the world without the Globe. Obviously it's had quite a few tune-ups over the centuries, but it's quite literally survived plagues before..."



Hate to break it to you (and my apologies if you're joking), but this structure is a recreation of the original Globe. It was built in 1997. The original Globe does not exist anymore. They've found the spot where they think the Globe once actually stood, and it's now a parking lot, covered partly by a building.

Updated On: 5/20/20 at 02:31 PM