Shakespeare’s Globe is home to two very different performance spaces – the outdoor Globe Theatre and the indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Now seven years old, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is modelled on the candlelit theatres of Shakespeare’s London.
The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is located on our site in London, next to the Globe Theatre.
Named in honour of our founder, the Playhouse is based on indoor candlelit theatres known to Shakespeare and his contemporaries. It’s not a reconstruction of a specific venue, but it echoes the Blackfriars Playhouse, used by Shakespeare’s theatre company from 1609.
Lit by over one hundred beeswax candles, the intimate Sam Wanamaker Playhouse hosts plays, concerts, education workshops and events throughout the year. Its main theatrical season runs from October to April but there’s a full programme of events all through the summer, too.