Shakespeare's Rose Theatre

“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.” 
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Rose Theatre Foundations

Southwark, London

Photo: Courtesy of the Rose Playhouse

The history of the Rose Theatre is something that could easily be mistaken for a plot in one of Shakespeare's plays. It follows a tale of love, loss, and renewal. It changed archaeological excavation in Britain and ushered in a notion of in-situ preservation that was at the time not part of the British Heritage canon. It is the efforts by people campaiging to "Save the Rose" that helped change the scope of preservation for what constitutes English Heritage today.

The would be destruction garnered intervention from a number of famous actors like Lord Olivier, Dame Judy Dench, and Sir Ian McKellen as well as the general public and for good reason. Although all that survives is the foundation, the site in conjunction with the Dulwich papers offer greater detail about the Elizabethan stage than any contemporary playhouse. And what's more is the distinct difference that although covered in protective sand, we've learned more about how sustainable means to preserve organic materials from this site more than any other as this has been in practice for over 25 years.

In a routine exploratory excavation, the Rose was rediscovered in-situ in 1989. The site was scheduled for clearance and re-development into an office block. For those of you that have been to see a play at the Globe, you might be disheartened to learn that is not where the globe actually stood. The interpretation, although certainly impeccably close to what the Globe probably looked like in the 1650s before a fire destroyed it, it is missing something in its ambiance that the Rose has. It is a classic case of aesthetic versus authentic. 

Does the Rose feel more authentic? This is where Shakespeare and Marlowe actually performed their plays, carefully marked in red lighting. Regardless of the fact you are surrounded by cement, and there is a pool of water around it as the Thames is tidal, and rises twice a day. Maybe this is more real than the Globe or other similar playhouses? Both offer different versions of authentic. And you'll have to judge for yourself which you prefer, but the differentiation between the two is an interesting discussion to have.

Click Here for details about What's On at The Rose Playhouse.