The Rose Theatre archaeological site in London will be open to the general public over the next two weekends as part of National Archaeology Week. Guides will be available to assist visitors and a video about the Rose, narrated by Ian McKellen, will be shown hourly. Simon Blatherwick, an archaeologist who helped unearth the Rose in 1989, will also give a talk at 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday of both weekends.
The Rose Theatre was built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe in London’s Bankside district, which was notorious for its brothels, gaming dens and bear-baiting pits. The region was outside the jurisdiction of London’a city fathers who would not allow a theatre to be built within the city walls. The Rose was the fifth purpose-built theatre in London and the first on Bankside. Christopher Marlowe’s plays “Doctor Faustus,” “The Jew of Malta” and “Tamburlaine the Great” were first performed at the Rose. Its repertory also included Thomas Kyd’s “The Spanish Tragedy” and William Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” and “Titus Andronicus.” It is possible that Shakespeare started his theatrical career at the Rose.
The archaeological remains of the Rose were discovered in 1989 following the demolition of a 1950s office block. Archaeologists from the Museum of London excavated about two thirds of the theatre’s foundation including the remains to two successive stages. The site is now contained in the basement of a building constructed after the 1989 excavation. Visitors are able to observe the remains from a viewing platform. Red rope lights around the foundations indicate the size of the Rose, its courtyard and the position of the two stages.
During National Archaeology Week, The site will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, 12th July, Sunday, 13th July, Saturday, 19th July and Sunday, 20th July. Tours of the Rose Theatre site are also available through Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
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