Shakespeare's Globe to build an Indoor Jacobean Theatre plans to present multi-lingual Shakespeare Festival in 2012

Shakespeare's Globe has announced plans plans to build an Indoor Jacobean Theatre - and plans to present multi-lingual Shakespeare Festival in 2012.

The shell of the indoor Jacobean theatre already exists on the Globe site. It was incorporated into the blueprint of the Globe complex when it was built. The Globe says it will be the most complete recreation of an English renaissance indoor theatre yet attempted. Major construction work is expected to begin in November 2012, and launch the theatre, with a first winter season, in November 2013. The indoor theatre will seat around 320 people, with two tiers of galleried seating and an authentic pit seating area.

Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole explains: “The faithful recreation of the Globe fourteen years ago revolutionised people’s ideas of what a theatre can, could and should be. The recreation of an indoor Jacobean theatre, the closest simulacrum of Shakespeare’s own Blackfriars that we can achieve, will have the same effect, and will prove a revelation of equal magnitude”.

Shakespeare's Globe also announced today that it plans to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with a multi-lingual Shakespeare project. For the first time ever in a single theatre season, all the plays of Shakespeare will be presented, each in a different language, each by a different company from around the world. Over the course of six weeks, beginning on Shakespeare’s birthday, 23 April 2012, the Globe will host a kaleidoscope of 38 international theatre companies, to present every one of Shakespeare’s 38 plays in a different language.

"It will also celebrate the vast array of ethnic communities and languages that make up London’s vibrant multi-cultural landscape."

Within the season, Shakespeare’s Globe will stage one production, with the remaining 37 plays presented by theatre companies from around the world. This programme is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor.