Farah Karim-Cooper
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“Something interesting does happen when plays like The Tempest are performed indoors” by the building we had on site (the ‘Inigo Jones’ theatre) and the new research that Inigo Jones was not the designer of the Worcester College Drawings (the plans of a 17th century theatre the playhouse is based upon), nor were they dated to 1616. So we had to reconcile this with the Globe’s mission to build and perform in spaces Shakespeare would be familiar with. “We decided therefore to use the plans of the auditorium as a spatial map to shape our theatre space. We then had to imagine ourselves as Jacobean theatre builders as we set out to build an archetype of an indoor Jacobean playhouse. As such, the evidence that
To Farah, the term Global Shakespeare means the Bard is “of the world”. Photo: Bronwen Sharp
came in handy was not only documentary evidence, but also tangible Jacobean buildings that still existed. The plays written for indoor theatres such as St Paul’s, Whitefriars, the Blackfriars, and the Cockpit also became important pieces of evidence to tell us about the shape, acoustic, visual atmosphere, number of doors needed etc. of the playhouse. It was a very rigorous process and took a lot of collaboration and co-operation between architects, timber craftsmen, theatre artists, Shakespeare scholars and theatre historians! “I was also appointed co-project manager with Neil Constable (CEO), Dominic Dromgoole (Artistic Director) and Patrick Spottiswoode (Director, Globe Education) and this meant a lot to me, as it suggested that the historical integrity of the new playhouse was as important as its cost and how the theatre would eventually be used. We had an extraordinary Project co-ordinator, Paul Russell, who liaised between the academics, the project management team, the electrical engineers, the London fire authorities and the builders. “It was great fun conducting candlelight experiments with him and Professor Martin White, who advised us about early modern lighting technology. I could go on forever about this project. But the most thrilling moment for me was the first show in there, The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster, directed by Dominic. I still remember my heart beating wildly as I stepped into the candlelit space and saw Gemma Arterton eloquently performing on the stage I helped to design and build. Enough said.” Your book Moving Shakespeare Indoors discusses the late Jacobean shift to a different style of theatre and the effects that this more intimate
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