【英语听和读】纪念莎士比亚

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment. I'm not in the studio

today I'm on location on the south bank of the River Thames in the centre of

London. 393 years ago today on June 29th 1613 one of the most famous

theatres in the world was destroyed by fire.

The Globe theatre on London's South Bank was the theatrical¹ home of William

Shakespeare and in this programme I'm going to be taking a little look at the

history of the theatre which Shakespeare called in his play Henry V, this

Wooden O.

Although the original Globe theatre has long since disappeared there is a

marvellous reconstruction² here now on the South Bank.

I've now come inside the marvellous modern 'wooden O' I'm speaking to

Patrick Spottiswoode who's the Director of Globe Education to find out a little

bit more. Patrick, why did Shakespeare refer to the Globe as 'this wooden O'?

Patrick: It is a round building. It is in fact a twenty-sided wooden O, a polygonal³ O.

And it is made of oak⁴ in the main, and it's an open air O so people gather round

in the theatre to hear a play.

Callum: And is that design typical of theatres of the time?

Patrick: The outdoor theatres yes, I mean in English we say 'gather round' we don't say

'gather square'. And you gather round to get close to hear a story. And these 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 2 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

were great story-telling venues⁶ and thousands of people would want to get

close to the actors. So the circle enables you to get close to the actor.

Callum: This reconstruction which we're in now, how close is it in where it is and how

it looks to the original?

Patrick: We're about 150 metres from where it originally stood. In terms of whether this

Globe is like the first Globe of 1599 well we, we think it is because we have no

photographs of course, no video, so we're reliant⁷ on a mixture of evidence as to

what the original Globe was like. We hope we've built the Globe like the

original but we cannot put our hands on our hearts and say it's exactly like. It's

as near as we can get.

Callum: The original as I mentioned at the beginning of this programme was destroyed

by fire in 1613. Can you tell us a little bit about its history before that? When

was it built and what was it used for?

Patrick: Well it was built in 1599 and Shakespeare and a group of actors put money

together to build the theatre. It was the first time ever in England actors had

paid to build a theatre. So that was very special. And it became the number one

theatre in London as Shakespeare's company became the number one acting⁸

company of London. So it became from 1599 as the number one venue⁵ for

theatre and certainly the number one venue for Shakespeare's plays until 1613.

And in 1613 they put on a play about Henry VIII and they had a cannon⁹ effect

to announce the arrival of the king on stage. But it was a special effect that

went badly wrong because a spark from the cannon flew up and hit the roof

which is made of thatch¹⁰. It caught fire and the theatre burnt to the ground

during a performance. 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Callum: Which of Shakespeare's plays were first performed here, which of the big ones

which people might know around the world were performed here?

Patrick: Well I suppose one of the most famous, Romeo and Juliet was not first

performed at the Globe. It was written two or three years before the Globe was

built. The first play that we know to have been put on at the Globe, the first

recorded performance, it was Julius Ceasar. We know that As You Like It was

put on at the Globe, we know Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, these are plays that

were Globe plays. But plays like Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare had a career

before the Globe was built.

Callum: This is Entertainment. Today I'm talking to Patrick Spottiswoode the director

of Globe Education about the Globe Theatre on London's South Bank. Patrick I

wonder could you tell us now about how the new Globe Theatre came to be

built?

Patrick: Sam Wanamaker founded a charity to build the Globe in 1970. He dies in 1993.

Four years later the Globe finally opened for performances in 1997. So we're a

very young theatre and it's thanks to people from outside of England, an

American and a South African who came to England and decided¹¹ that it would

be a good thing to rebuild Shakespeare's Globe. So thanks to them we have a

Globe Theatre again.

Callum: Patrick Spottiswoode, thank you very much. That's all from this edition of

entertainment. Do join us again next time. 

1 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

2 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

3 polygonal   

adj.多角形的，多边形的

参考例句：

• The grains take on simple polygonal. 颗粒呈简单的多角形。 来自辞典例句
• Use the necessary instrument Polygonal Lasso Tool to outline the mask contour. 使用多边形套索工具将面膜部分选中。 来自互联网

4 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

5 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

6 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

7 reliant   

adj.依靠的，信赖自己的

参考例句：

• The hostel is heavily reliant upon charity.这家收容所在很大程度上依赖赞助。
• The service has become heavily reliant on government support.这项服务变得高度依赖政府扶持。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

10 thatch   

vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋)

参考例句：

• They lit a torch and set fire to the chapel's thatch.他们点着一支火把，放火烧了小教堂的茅草屋顶。
• They topped off the hut with a straw thatch. 他们给小屋盖上茅草屋顶。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。