GHOST, OTHELLO, and More Set For Shakespeare's Globe's Sam Wanamaker Playhouse 10th Anniversary Season

Marking a decade since the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opened, Shakespeare’s Globe is thrilled to announce the 10th Anniversary Season, running from November 2023 to April 2024. Illuminated by over 100 beeswax candles, the Playhouse is an archetype of the Jacobean indoor theatre for which plays like Shakespeare’s Othello and The Duchess of Malfi were written and performed.

• Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts runs from 10 November – 28 January, adapted and directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins.

• Ola Ince returns to Shakespeare’s Globe to direct Shakespeare’s Othello, running from 19 January – 13 April.

• Rachel Bagshaw directs John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, ten years after it opened the first Sam Wanamaker Playhouse season in 2014, running from 17 February – 14 April.

• A new version of Hansel and Gretel by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage runs from 8 December – 7 January in The Globe Theatre, directed by Nick Bagnall.

• Burnt at the Stake, or The Whole of the Truth, a special night of new writing, plays in The Globe Theatre on 13 October.

• The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse hosts new writing company HighTide’s Ghost Stories by Candlelight on 23 – 25 November.

• Tim Crouch makes his Globe debut with his acclaimed solo show I, Malvolio, running 30 November – 9 December.

• Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank returns from February 2024 with a 90-minute production of Romeo and Juliet, created especially for young people.

 

Michelle Terry, Artistic Director, says: This winter, we’re so proud and excited to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of our unique and incredible Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. For over a decade now, the warm embrace of over a hundred beeswax candles has transformed stories and transported artists and audiences to worlds elsewhere via the most compelling and necessary of plays. And this year will be no different as we put the drama of the domestic right at the heart of this candlelit imaginarium. As the nights draw in, and the days get darker, we hope these beguiling and bewitching dramas will charm, inspire, and nourish as you step into the candlelight to celebrate 10 years of our wonderful Sam Wanamaker Playhouse!

For the first time, the Globe will stage a play by Henrik Ibsen, one of the most influential dramatists of all time. A searing exploration of family secrets and forbidden desire, Ghosts runs from 10 November 2023, until 28 January 2024. Its depiction of incest, infection, and euthanasia caused a scandal when it first premiered, and now, director Joe Hill-Gibbins, in his Globe debut, brings the first modern tragedy to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Joe Hill-Gibbins is a British theatre and opera director. His directing credits include The Tragedy of King Richard the Second (Almeida Theatre) and Edward II (National Theatre), The Marriage of Figaro and Powder Her Face (ENO). Between 2007 and 2013 he was Resident Director and later Deputy Artistic Director at the Young Vic Theatre, where his credits include The Changeling, The Glass Menagerie, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and A Respectable Wedding. Other directing credits include The Village Bike, Bliss, Family Plays: The Good Family & The Khomenko Family Chronicles, A Girl In A Car With A Man (Royal Court Theatre); The Girlfriend Experience (Royal Court Theatre and Drum Plymouth, Young Vic); and A Thought In Three Parts (Battersea Arts Centre). Ghosts will be designed by Rosanna Vize.

Ola Ince directs Shakespeare’s Othello running from 19 January until 13 April 2024, following her seminal 2021 production of Romeo and Juliet in The Globe Theatre. Ola debuts in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with Shakespeare’s blistering tragedy of unrestrained jealousy and manipulation, confronting the destructive impact of racism and misogyny on reputation and community. Ola Ince is a theatre, film, and opera director. She has most recently directed Once On This Island (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Ola was an Artistic Associate at The Royal Court Theatre from 2018-2022, and Artistic Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith and Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2016. Other theatre credits include Christmas in the Sunshine (Unicorn Theatre); Heart (Minetta Lane Theatre, NYC); Is God Is & Poet in da Corner (Royal Court Theatre); The Knife of Dawn (Royal Opera House); Viral (Headlong Theatre and Century Films); Appropriate (Donmar); The Convert, Dutchman (Young Vic); and Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (Gate Theatre). 

Ten years after opening the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2014, John Webster’s timeless revenge tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, returns to London’s only indoor candlelit theatre, running from 17 February until 14 April 2024. Director Rachel Bagshaw makes her Globe debut with this anniversary production of Webster’s violent tale of misogyny and deceit. Rachel is a stage director and incoming Artistic Director at the Unicorn Theatre. Her recent theatre credits include A Dead Body in Taos (Bristol Old Vic/Wilton’s Music Hall), Augmented (Royal Exchange/Told by an Idiot) and Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales for Unicorn Theatre Online. Other theatre credits include The Bee in Me and Aesop’s Fables (Unicorn Theatre); Midnight Movie (Royal Court Theatre); The Shape of the Pain (China Plate/Edinburgh Fringe/BAC/UK Tour); Resonance at the Still Point of Change (Unlimited Festival, South Bank Centre); The Rhinestone Rollers and Just Me, Bell (Graeae). Film credits include Let Loose (Unicorn Theatre Online/ENB) and Where I Go (When I Can’t be Where I Am) (BBC/China Plate). 

On 13 October, Burnt at the Stake, or The Whole of the Truth will anonymously showcase writers premiering new work. This evening of storytelling revolves around one provocation to these writers: If no-one knew you had said it, what would you say? If you could tell ‘the whole of the truth’ what would you tell? This celebration of bold new writing in The Globe Theatre is co-curated by Hannah Khalil (Writer, Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights; The Fir Tree, Globe) and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Writer, Emilia, Globe; Mum, Soho). Globe Resident Associate Directors Naeem Hayat (Associate Director, The Comedy of Errors, Globe; Assistant Director, King Lear, Globe) and Indiana Lown-Collins (Associate Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe; Director, The Solid Life of Sugar Water, Orange Tree;) will co-direct. 

Celebrated new writing company HighTide bring Ghost Stories by Candlelight to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse from 23-25 November. Contemporary ghost stories and haunting folk music from the ‘Witch Counties’ of East Anglia will be directed by Elayce Ismail, and written by Kelly Jones, Shamser Sinha and Nicola Werenowska, with music and songs by Georgia Shackleton. Ghost Stories by Candlelight is a HighTide production, in association with Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Harlow Playhouse and Shakespeare’s Globe.  Recent productions include Kabul Goes Pop! and When The Long Trick’s Over (2022 UK Tours). Other productions include The Last Woodwose, Collapsible, Hey Diddle Diddle!, Luke Wright: Logan Dankworth, Pops, Rust, Status, The Old House, Since U Been Gone, Pink Lemonade (Aldeburgh Festival); and The Trick (Bush Theatre).

World-renowned artist Tim Crouch makes his Globe debut in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse this winter, with his acclaimed solo show I, Malvolio, running from 30 November – 9 December. An hilarious and often unsettling rant from an actor adrift in front of an audience, I, Malvolio re-imagines Twelfth Night from the point of view of its most notoriously abused steward. Part abject clown, part theatre-hating disciplinarian, Malvolio asks his audience to explore the pleasure we take in other people’s suffering. A story of lost dignity, prudery, practical jokes and bullying, this one-man act of storytelling alchemy draws us deep into the madness of Shakespeare’s classic comedy, suitable for ages 11+. Following the hugely successful I, Caliban, I, Peaseblossom and I, Banquo, I, Malvolio premiered at the Brighton Festival in 2010 and has since toured throughout the world. It is designed by Olivier award-winning Graeme Gilmour and was commissioned by Brighton Festival. 

Playing in the open-air Globe Theatre, Hansel and Gretel runs from 8 December 2023 until 7 January 2024, the new stage production of Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s epic version of The Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale. Directed by Nick Bagnall (Love's Labour's Lost; Two Gentlemen of Verona, Globe) and filled with music, magic, songs and a sprinkling of hope, Hansel and Gretel is aimed at everyone aged 5+. Simon and Nick return to collaborate at the Globe for the first time since The Last Days of Troy in 2014. Nick’s other work for the Globe includes Edward II, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3, The Death of King Arthur, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nick was the Associate Director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse from 2014–2019 where his directing credits included Our Lady of Blundellsands, Sweeney Todd, A Clockwork Orange, The Big I Am, The Conquest of the South Pole, Romeo & Juliet, The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Electric Hills. 

 

ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

A full programme of events running throughout October half term for all ages includes live storytelling and interactive family workshops for children aged 5–12 and their grown-ups covering Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and The Winter’s Tale. Young people can explore Shakespeare’s plays with expert Globe practitioners in practical and interactive workshops, on Macbeth (for children aged 12+) and Much Ado About Nothing (14+). Young Actors Short Courses for children aged 8-10 will run across four half-days. Lead by Globe practitioners, this interactive course is designed especially for aspiring actors, including a tour of The Globe Theatre and culminating in a small sharing of work.

Two interactive workshops for young people and their grown-ups will be the perfect accompaniment to a festive day at the Globe. The Hansel & Gretel Drama and Music Workshop for 5–8-year-olds will explore the story, characters and music of The Brothers Grimm fairy tale through fun activities led by a Globe practitioner. Children aged 9-12 can enjoy the Hansel & Gretel Spoken Word and Drama Workshop, using creative writing and performance to similarly dive into the magical woodland world. Both workshops run from 9 December 2023 to 7 January 2024.

In February 2024, Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank returns for its 18th year with a production of Romeo and Juliet in The Globe Theatre. This gripping 90-minute production is created especially for young people and designed to support the curriculum. Opening 29 February, there are over 26,000 free tickets for pupils aged 11-16 at London and Birmingham state schools, with subsidised tickets for schools nationwide and a range of accessible performances including Integrated BSL. The production will be directed by Director of Education, Lucy Cuthbertson, Director of Olivier award-nominated Midsummer Mechanicals (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 2022).

 

STUDY DAYS & WORKSHOPS

The Education department will invite audiences of all ages to explore the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and their relevance for today. A Level and Adult Study Days will explore Othello, its historical and social context, and its performance history across the last four centuries. Over October half term On Stage Workshops for young people aged 14+ will also take a fresh approach to studying Shakespeare. 

HIGHER EDUCATION & RESEARCH 

Professor Farah Karim-Cooper (who chaired the Architecture Research Group during the design and construction of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) says, “It is hard to believe that we have reached ten years since we opened the lustrous and intimate Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. It was built with academic input and research at its heart. We look forward to gathering again and exploring what our indoor Jacobean jewel has taught us and Dr Will Tosh is the perfect guide in this endeavour.”

Celebrating the legacy of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe will host two special research events on 8 January 2024 to mark a decade of unparalleled performance and events in London’s only candlelit theatre. Ten Years by Candlelight: Symposium will see expert academics and artists gather in the Playhouse to explore the origins of the theatre, how its architecture influences productions, directorial responses to the space, and how shows have reimagined the archetypal Jacobean playing space for audiences today. At Ten Years by Candlelight: Lecture, Head of Research and author of the forthcoming Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare, Dr. Will Tosh will revive his Indoor Performance Practice Project for one night only and bring his 2019 book Playing Indoors: Performing Early Modern Drama in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse bang up to date.

On 3 September, Globe Director of Education Professor Farah Karim-Cooper will be joined in conversation with actor and author Paterson Joseph in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. This insightful evening will explore Paterson’s career and relationship with Shakespeare’s works, alongside hearing excerpts of selected stage texts and passages from his books including his debut novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, winner of the 2023 Royal Society of Literature’s Christopher Bland Prize. Not only a prize-winning novelist and popular film and television actor, Paterson is also one of the UK’s great Shakespeareans. He played Brutus in the high-profile all-Black British Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar set in Africa with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012. His acclaimed book, Julius Caesar and Me: Shakespeare’s African Play reflects on this experience and more. In conversation, Paterson and Farah will discuss his Shakespearean journey, casting, race and of course, his incredible novel which is full of Shakespearean references. Paterson’s upcoming screen roles include Boat Story (BBC) and Wonka alongside Timothée Chalamet, directed by Paul King. 

The 2023 Shakespeare’s Globe Book Award winner will deliver their lecture in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse on 19 October. The Shakespeare’s Globe Book Award is given biennially to a scholar whose first book has made an outstanding contribution to understanding and appreciation of the world of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Previous winners include Emma Whipday and Oliver Morgan, Simon Smith, Gillian Woods and David Goldstein, Gwilym Jones and Abigail Rokison-Woodall.

Director of Education and author of The Great White Bard: Shakespeare, Race and the Future, Professor Farah Karim-Cooper will host a free Anti-Racist Shakespeare webinar on 22 February exploring race, identity, and social justice in Othello. Farah will be joined by Assistant Professor of English at Trinity College, and Shakespeare and premodern critical race studies scholar, Dr David Sterling Brown. 

The Globe’s acclaimed, long-running script-in-hand series Read Not Dead returns on 20 October to present a lesser-known early modern play. A company of actors will collaborate with a leading director to bring to life a ‘forgotten’ play, and share in the excitement and discovery of unearthing a work of art. 

Audiences and students are invited to contribute to the Globe’s Shakespeare and Social Justice Discussion Forum, taking place on 7 December. This is a chance to explore and debate the ways in which Shakespeare’s plays speak to the most urgent issues of our time. Provoked by a keynote lecture, this one-day event will include interactive sessions, discussion groups and expert panels.

 

GUIDED TOURS

The bloody world of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi will be brought to life by expert guides in a special new Guided Tour. From 20 February 2024, audiences will explore the history of Webster’s seminal revenge tragedy, his life and enduring influence on our canon.

From 18 – 30 December, families can explore the Globe and hear how Christmas was celebrated in Shakespeare's time. The Festive Family Tour is a magical way to learn about the folk traditions that people practiced when welcoming in winter, from wassailing to the winter solstice, 'kissing boughs' to proper mince pyes.

Starting on 24 October, the Ghosts & Ghouls Family Tour brings to life the scary happenings of Shakespeare’s most chilling plays, including the witches’ spells in Macbeth and the ghostly moments in Hamlet. Visitors will delve into Shakespeare and his audiences’ love of the supernatural, discover London’s mysterious folklore, and learn to protect themselves against evil spirits.

As well as these seasonal tours, the Globe runs other tours throughout the year. Shakespeare’s True Crimes Walking Tour explores the intriguing criminal history of the historic Bankside community, including Shakespeare himself, duelling actors and rival playwrights. As the nights drawn in this Autumn, the Twilight Walking Tour will visit Shakespeare’s evening haunts, conjuring images of midnight revels and demons from Shakespeare’s Bankside after dark. Both tours run from 28 October onwards. Shakespeare’s Globe’s Pride Guided Tour brings to life the queer stories and characters from Shakespeare’s life and times. Discover vivid records of diverse sexualities and gender identities in writing of the time, including Shakespeare’s own Sonnets and queer relationships in some of his most famous plays.