THURSDAYS
17 SEPTEMBER – 29 OCTOBER
Visit The Rose this autumn as we reopen our doors to the public with our new guided tours.
To celebrate, for September and October only, the tours will be FREE for both local Southwark residents, and for up to four children at a time who are 15 years old or under and are accompanied by an adult — booking required.
See the site of the original playhouse, where a young William Shakespeare once acted, where his earliest tragedy Titus Andronicus was first performed, and where the plays of Christopher Marlowe — like Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine the Great, and The Jew of Malta — astounded Elizabethan audiences.
Built in 1587, The Rose was the first theatre on Bankside, on the south side of the River Thames in Southwark. Its archaeological remains, once thought lost, were rediscovered by chance in 1989, to the delight and wonder of the local community, historians, scholars, and theatre-lovers worldwide.
Those remains are now carefully preserved underwater, and are outlined with illuminated rope lights allowing you to see for yourself the shape and size of The Rose and its stage through the two phases of its development.
Our friendly guides will bring the space alive with artefacts that can be handled, and using extracts from accounts and documents of the time will tell you the story of:
– how and why The Rose was originally constructed
– the people who worked and performed there
– its key role within the theatrical culture of the time
– its place within Elizabethan Bankside as an entertainment district
– its astonishing and unexpected rediscovery in 1989
– the star-studded campaign to save it
– the archaeological dig and what it has revealed
– the exciting plans for the site's future
Tours last around 45 minutes, with time for questions at the end.
Tickets:
£12
£8 concessions
(students / unemployed / OAPS / National Disability Card / Equity members / Friends of The Rose)
Free to Southwark Residents, carers with a Plus One Access card,
and up to 4 children aged 15 and under accompanied by an adult.
Booking required.
For more information about your visit, including how to get here:
Find out about our free digital guide, which you can download and use before, during, or after your visit