Comments on: At The Curtain Theatre

By: Nigel Hey

Nigel Hey — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 00:34:19 +0000

I don’t understand why modern buildings should not be built OVER a restored Curtain theatre, as an archaeological visitor centre or, ideally, rebuilt and preserved in a time capsule of concrete and steel suitable for theatrical performances.

By: Phil Maxwell

Phil Maxwell — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 15:12:25 +0000

A shopping mall and luxury flats … what would Shakespeare make of that!

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 14:51:56 +0000

Shakespeare’s ghost inhabits many corners of this great city. At Blackfriars, in Playhouse Yard, he probably performed with the King’s Men. A short walk away, in Ireland Yard, he lived. Across the river at Bankside stood the Globe – and now the magical new Globe stands imperious on the banks of the Thames, truly a theatre of dreams. Nearby was the Rose, older than the Globe, the foundations are preserved beneath 56 Park Street and open to the public. Working at Blackfriars I walk around these locations most days and I often think of these words:

“These our actors were all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air”

By: Tim Clarke

Tim Clarke — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:32:48 +0000

Excellent article. Such a shame they can’t scrap the mall and build a reconstruction of the theatre instead!

By: Leana Pooley

Leana Pooley — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 09:29:33 +0000

Thanks for your thrilling description of the remains of the Curtain Theatre which will live on into infinity unlike the archeological site which presumably will be destroyed by the deep foundations needed for the tower block. Sadly the tours seem to be sold out. How lucky I was this morning to have seen your photographs and to have read what it was like for a fellow playwright and theatre director to look down and across this rare and precious Shakespearian place.

By: Ken Howard

Ken Howard — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 08:54:59 +0000

Great piece and very interesting.
What a pity that on immediately going to their website I found all the viewings are sold out and no more are planned!

By: John Barrett

John Barrett — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 07:00:36 +0000

I liked Janet M’s rendition we are, suspended like spirits on a wire. We are all on a big roller coaster ride. Also I can imagine the Theatre and the larger Curtain theatre holding some 4,000 people (many in the open) in a dreamy meadow with Nightingales singing. I suppose the construction was similar to the present day Globe theatre, perhaps a touch more primitive. Globe is lovely to look at by Thames in a top site. John

By: Valerie-Jael

Valerie-Jael — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 05:47:26 +0000

How exciting to actually be able to see the remains of Shakespeare’s theatre. I’m sorry I can’t visit now, it won’t be the same under a mall – the curtain will have fallen. Valerie

By: Janet M

Janet M — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 23:11:44 +0000

Aren’t we all “suspended like spirits on a wire” as we float through life?