Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of the Shakespeare's Globe complex, along with the recreated Globe Theatre on Bankside in Southwark, London. Built by making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor English theatre, the playhouse recalls the layout and style of the Blackfriars Theatre (which also existed in Shakespeare's time), although it is not an exact reconstruction. Unlike the Globe, the original Blackfriars was not in Southwark but rather across the river. The shell of the playhouse was built during the construction of the Globe complex in the 1990s. The smaller unfinished building was used as a space for education workshops and rehearsals until enough money was raised to complete its true-to-the-period interior. It opened for public performances in January 2014, named after actor Sam Wanamaker, the leading figure in the Globe's reconstruction.