Free for Southwark Residents
One of London’s most significant Shakespearean sites is opening its doors to the public this autumn. In September and October the archaeological remains of The Rose Playhouse on Bankside, where Shakespeare worked and acted, will be open on a regular weekly basis for the first time in six years with specialist guided tours.
This is a unique opportunity for visitors to see the remains of the playhouse where plays like Shakespeare’s first tragedy Titus Andronicus and Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine the Great were once staged.
Visitors will be shown the archaeological remains of the playhouse which are preserved underwater and outlined with rope lights. Guides will tell the story of The Rose from its construction in 1587 to its closure in around 1603, then the rediscovery of the remains in 1989 and the campaign to save them and guarantee their future.
The tours run every Thursday from September 17 to October 29 only. Places are free for Southwark residents, and for up to four children aged 15-and-under when accompanied by an adult. Tours start hourly from 10am to 3pm and last about 45 minutes.
The Rose Playhouse is unique – the only open-air Elizabethan theatre whose complete archaeological remains survive and which can be fully excavated.
It was the first theatre on Bankside, on the south side of the River Thames in Southwark, pre-dating the original Globe theatre there by 12 years. It was built in 1587 by local businessman and entrepreneur Philip Henslowe.
Playwrights like William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, and Ben Jonson all wrote for The Rose before it closed around 1603, just as Queen Elizabeth I’s reign came to an end.
The archaeological remains of The Rose were thought to be lost, but were rediscovered by chance in 1989 during construction work for a new office block, making news worldwide.
The Rose’s astonishing rediscovery profoundly changed our understanding of Elizabethan theatres and the way plays were performed in them. A campaign to ‘Save The Rose’ was launched to try to save the archaeological remains from immediate destruction, supported by many of the leading names in British theatre, including Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart, Peggy Ashcroft, Timothy Dalton, Ralph Fiennes, and – with his final public speech – Laurence Olivier.
The campaign’s success meant that the archaeological remains are now protected in law as a Scheduled Monument, but at the time it was only possible to uncover two-thirds of the playhouse – the rest still lies waiting to be explored.
The Rose Theatre Trust is renewing its campaign to raise £2 million to complete the archeological dig and preserve the remains for future generations. When that has been done, The Rose Revealed project will see the site transformed into a new exhibition, learning centre and performance space.
Visitors and audiences will be immersed in The Rose’s history on the actual site of the original playhouse — a key location in Shakespeare’s early career and the development of Elizabethan theatre— as a new chapter in The Rose’s story is written.
The Rose Playhouse, 56 Park Street, Bankside, London, SE1 9AR
DATES & TIMES:
Every Thursday from 17 September to 29 October, hourly starting from 10am, last tour at 3pm
Tours last about 45 minutes
TiICKET PRICES:
£12 / Concessions £8 (students / unemployed / OAPS / Equity members / Friends of The Rose)
FREE for Southwark Residents (with proof of address)
FREE for up to 4 children at a time aged 15-and-under when accompanied by an adult
Booking required
TICKET LINK: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/guided-tours
