The 1998 Globe Season

Summary

The 1998 repertoire at Shakespeare’s Globe included two comedies, As You Like It, probably written for the original Globe in 1599, and The Merchant of Venice, revived there before Court performances in 1605. As in 1997, two further plays were added in August: Thomas Middleton’s A Mad World, My Masters, written for the Children of St Paul’s, at their small indoor theatre in the cathedral precinct; and The Honest Whore (part 1 by Thomas Dekker and Middleton; part 2 by Dekker alone), written for Prince Henry’s Men at the Fortune (whose stage used the Globe’s as its model). One play, then, was both Shakespeare’s and a Globe play. Other performances at the Globe included a single performance of King John by the ‘Original Shakespeare Company’, and several concert performances of John Blow’s opera Venus and Adonis (whose libretto bears no relation to Shakespeare’s poem).

As the novelty of the Globe eases into familiarity, its attractions and its discomforts and discontents become clearer. Simply to enter the yard and stand in the building remains among its most reliable satisfactions. The enclosed space of the yard and timber galleries excludes the modern city around it. Even the nuisance of aircraft noise, especially hovering traffic helicopters, is taken in their stride by actors and audience alike, if anything creating a bond of sympathy.