Pop-up Globe Reveals Showstopper Sydney Location

OPENS SEPTEMBER 5 | TICKETS ON SALE TODAY
POPUPGLOBE.COM.AU

After performing to an astonishing 450,000 people in just two years, New Zealand’s greatest theatrical export Pop-up Globe today unveils the location of its next big O.E. and it’s a showstopper!

The much anticipated, highly guarded location for Pop-up Globe’s first Sydney season is Show Ring in Moore Park -- smack-bang at the heart of Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter and signalling to Australian audiences that this theatrical extravaganza is one they won’t want to miss.

The creators of Pop-up Globe, together with representatives of Live Nation, NAB, and Entertainment Quarter announce that the theatre will be constructed over six weeks, and will feature all the spectacular theatrical trickery that New Zealand audiences have fallen in love with over the past three seasons.

From riotous comedy to gruesome battles, litres of fake blood, hand-forged armoury and more than 450 beautiful bespoke period costumes pieces specially constructed by the Pop-up Globe in-house wardrobe department, Sydney fans will soon discover what their Kiwi cousins have been raving about.

Capped with an onion dome, Pop-up Globe will be a remarkable feature of the Sydney cityscape, just as the second Globe was in London.

For six weeks only, Sydney will be a treated to a spectacular festival of Shakespeare unlike the have ever seen before. Opening on 5 September, the season will feature four critically-acclaimed productions – the magical fantasy A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring te reo speaking fairies, haunting blood-soaked tragedy Macbeth, controversial comedy The Merchant of Venice, and laugh-out-loud slapstick The Comedy of Errors.

Tickets on sale today. Check out popupglobe.com.au for details.

Pop-up Globe founder and artistic director, Dr Miles Gregory, says “We can’t wait to share with Sydney-siders the magic of Shakespeare performed in the space for which it was written. I’m so proud to be showing off this spectacular theatre and the many talents associated with it, including taking te reo to the world. It’s a great day to be a Kiwi here in Sydney.”

In just two years Pop-up Globe has become one of the most popular new theatres ever, drawing audiences of more than 450,000 people in its first 24 months, including more than 150,000 attendances at its critically acclaimed season in Melbourne earlier this year.

Dr Gregory says he believes Shakespeare’s work performed in the space it is written for is a completely unique and transformative experience.

“Our audiences are blown away by the immersive experience of seeing Shakespeare performed in the space for which it was written. The relationship between actor and audience, the spectacular space itself, together with the power of Shakespeare’s incredible work, means attending plays at Pop-up Globe is totally different from anything you’ve seen before,” says Gregory.

“This isn’t dusty Shakespeare. This is now. Alive. Like a party,” adds Dr Gregory.

The first Globe stood for 14 years until a disastrous fire demolished it in 1613. The second Globe was rebuilt on the same foundations by Shakespeare and his company significantly modifying the original first Globe to create what became one of the most famous theatres in history. Pop-up Globe uses as its historical reference point ground-breaking research by Associate Professor Tim Fitzpatrick and Russell Emerson of the University of Sydney to create the world’s first full-scale temporary working replica of Shakespeare’s theatre, the second Globe.

Pop-up Globe is a three-storey, 16-sided, 900-person capacity theatre. It unites cutting-edge scaffold technology with a 400-year-old design to transport audiences back in time. No matter where they sit or stand in the theatre, audience members are never more than 15 metres from the heart of the action on stage. Sometimes they’ll even find themselves in the play.

The audacious project was originally planned as a one-off in Auckland to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016. Created entirely from scratch by an international company and cast in less than 18 months, Pop-up Globe took the city by storm welcoming more than 100,000 attendees in a season extended twice by popular demand.

Following hot on the heels of this initial sell-out success, a critically-acclaimed season in Melbourne and two further seasons in Auckland have attracted another 350,000 attendances. The phenomenon resulted in international interest from leading promoters and representatives from cities around the world who travelled to New Zealand to witness it for themselves.

Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company, jumped at the chance to work with Pop-up Globe to secure this unique theatre experience for Australian audiences.

Luke Hede, Vice President Live Nation Australasia said, “Live Nation has a great history of presenting only the very best live performances and we are thrilled to be able to bring this extraordinary production to Sydney audiences after our wonderful Melbourne season. Pop-up Globe is the most exciting theatre project we’ve seen in a long time and even more exciting that it is coming out of our part of the world”.

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