New playhouse planned for Shakespeare theater site
William Shakespeare
This week actor Paul McGann stood amid the dirt and bricks and recited the prologue to "Romeo and Juliet" -- a play historians believe had its premiere on this site and in which Shakespeare may have taken a small acting role.
 "It's possible the prologue was spoken by Shakespeare himself " McGann said. "I hope so. I want to channel him."
 Shakespeare's influence on English culture is incalculable  but relatively few physical links to him remain. Tourists can visit his birth and burial places in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. In London  there's a reconstruction of the Globe playhouse where he worked near its original site south of the River Thames. Remains have been found nearby of The Rose  another Elizabethan venue.
 It's thought plays including "Romeo and Juliet" and "The Merchant of Venice" -- as well as works by Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd -- were performed at The Theatre  which served as a base for Shakespeare's troupe  the Chamberlain's Men.
 But by 1598  a dispute with the site's landlord threatened to leave the company homeless. Shakespeare and his colleagues took drastic action: over the Christmas holiday  while the landlord was away  they dismantled the building and hauled its stout oak beans into storage. In the spring  the timbers were ferried across the river and used to build a new theater  the Globe.
This week actor Paul McGann stood amid the dirt and bricks and recited the prologue to "Romeo and Juliet" -- a play historians believe had its premiere on this site and in which [TGT] may have taken a small acting role.
 "It's possible the prologue was spoken by [TGT] " McGann said. "I hope so. I want to channel him."
 Shakespeare's influence on English culture is incalculable  but relatively few physical links to him remain. Tourists can visit his birth and burial places in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. In London  there's a reconstruction of the Globe playhouse where he worked near its original site south of the River Thames. Remains have been found nearby of The Rose  another Elizabethan venue.
 It's thought plays including "Romeo and Juliet" and "The Merchant of Venice" -- as well as works by Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd -- were performed at The Theatre  which served as a base for [TGT]'s troupe  the Chamberlain's Men.
 But by 1598  a dispute with the site's landlord threatened to leave the company homeless. [TGT] and [TGT] colleagues took drastic action: over the Christmas holiday  while the landlord was away  they dismantled the building and hauled its stout oak beans into storage. In the spring  the timbers were ferried across the river and used to build a new theater  the Globe.