Pop Up Globe, 15,000 tickets sold already

15,000 TICKETS SOLD ALREADY

• Romeo & Juliet: From 19 February 2016
• Twelfth Night: From 20 February 2016
• The Tempest from 1 March 2016 NEW
Tickets on sale NOW via Eventfinda

An astonishing 15,000 tickets have already been sold to ROMEO & JULIET and TWELFTH NIGHT to be staged in POP-UP GLOBE -- the world’s first faithful reconstruction of Shakespeare’s second Globe Theatre – in the heart of Auckland city.

Fans and schools from throughout New Zealand have snapped up tickets to this groundbreaking, history-making development that will give them the thrill of experiencing Shakespeare as he intended it but on the other side of the world.

POP-UP GLOBE artistic director Dr Miles Gregory says he’s delighted with the reaction to this week’s news that the theatre would be developed in Auckland’s cultural precinct.

Due to this overwhelming demand, promoters today can announce that THE TEMPEST will be staged at the POP-UP GLOBE from 1 March. Tickets to this AUSA Outdoor Summer Shakespeare event have gone on sale today via Eventfinda.

“I'm very proud that The Tempest will be performed at Pop-up Globe, as it's one of Shakespeare's last plays and it's often regarded as his farewell to the theatre. They've assembled an incredible team that bring a huge amount of experience and talent together,” says Dr Gregory.

THE TEMPEST sees the magician Prospero bring his enemies to his enchanted island, where love and magic intertwine to achieve lasting reconciliation. Performed by a full cast and live musicians, this production marks a new departure in AUSA Outdoor Summer Shakespeare's 50+ year history.

Directed by award-winning Auckland director Benjamin Henson, and starring internationally acclaimed actress Lisa Harrow as Prospero, the production will see AUSA Outdoor Summer Shakespeare leave its regular location at the University of Auckland to take over the POP-UP GLOBE.

“We are thrilled that the annual AUSA Outdoor Shakespeare can this year be presented in the Globe!” says Michael Hurst, Chair, Outdoor Summer Shakespeare Trust. "This is a brilliant opportunity for audiences and actors alike. A rare chance to experience the power, energy and sheer visceral beauty of Shakespeare's genius in all its stripped back glory. I can't wait."

Dr Gregory says Shakespeare’s Globe is one of the most important theatres in history.

“The experience was so remarkable that ever since the late nineteenth century, actors and academics - and sometimes a mixture of the two - have sought to recreate as much as is possible the 'original' staging conditions of Shakespeare's own theatres,” says Dr Gregory.

“Yet Shakespeare’s second Globe Theatre, the theatre he built and in which his work was being performed at the time he died, has never been accurately reconstructed.

“Our aim is to recreate as faithfully as possible this original performance space so Pop-up Globe’s audience can enjoy the remarkable experience of Shakespeare’s own audience 400 years ago.”

Thanks to ground-breaking research by associate Professor Tim Fitzpatrick of Sydney University, POP-UP GLOBE will replicate exactly the dimensions of Shakespeare's second Globe Theatre, which was built on the ruins of the first Globe in 1614.

This round three-storey building is designed to create a remarkable theatre experience. Wherever in the theatre you sit or stand, you’ll be within 15m of the action on stage and surrounded on all sides by people sharing the same space and experience.

An audience of up to 900 will completely surround the stage. In fact, some of the best seats in the house are located in the Lords' and Gentlemen's rooms on the two levels directly behind the stage.

The stage is very large – over 100sqm - and takes up almost half the base of the yard. This expansive space allows the Pop-up Globe Theatre Company an unusually large performance area on which to bring Shakespeare’s work to life, just as Shakespeare’s own cast enjoyed 400 years ago.

POP-UP GLOBE is capped with an onion dome, a unique signature design element which will be remarkable feature of the Auckland cityscape, just as it would have been for the Globe on its site by the Thames. With a steel frame ‘skinned’ in plywood POP-UP GLOBE fuses cutting-edge scaffold technology with 400-year-old design.

ENDS

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