Shakespeare's Globe was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, of which Shakespeare was a member. The theatre was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613, but was rebuilt in 1614 and remained in use until 1642, when the Puritans closed all London theatres.
The Globe was located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the parish of St Saviour's, Southwark. It was a large, circular wooden structure with a thatched roof. The stage was a platform that projected into the audience, and there was no backstage area. The actors changed costumes in a small room behind the stage.
The Globe was a very popular theatre, and it is estimated that it could hold up to 3,000 people. The audience was made up of a wide cross-section of society, from wealthy nobles to poor apprentices.
Shakespeare wrote many of his plays for the Globe, including Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. The theatre was also used for performances of plays by other playwrights, such as Ben Jonson and John Webster.
The Globe was closed in 1642 by the Puritans, who considered it to be a place of immorality and sin. The theatre was demolished in 1644.
In 1997, a new Globe theatre was built on the site of the original theatre. The new Globe is a faithful reconstruction of the original, and it is used for performances of Shakespeare's plays and other plays from the Elizabethan era.