The archaeological remains of The Rose Playhouse on Bankside – the theatre where Shakespeare worked and acted, and where his first tragedy Titus Andronicus was staged – are opening to the public on a regular weekly basis for the first time in six years, with specialist guided tours running every Thursday this autumn.
The Rose is unique: it’s the only open-air Elizabethan theatre whose complete archaeological remains survive and can be fully excavated. Built in 1587 by local entrepreneur Philip Henslowe, it was the first theatre on Bankside, predating the original Globe by 12 years. Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd and Ben Jonson all wrote for The Rose before it closed around 1603 – staging early landmarks like Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine the Great alongside Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus.
Rediscovered by chance, saved by a theatre-world campaign
The Rose’s remains were thought lost until they were rediscovered by chance in 1989 during construction work for a new office block, making news worldwide. The find prompted a Save The Rose campaign backed by some of British theatre’s biggest names – Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart, Peggy Ashcroft, Timothy Dalton and Ralph Fiennes among them, with Laurence Olivier making his final public speech in support of it. The campaign worked: the remains are now protected in law as a Scheduled Monument, though only two-thirds of the playhouse has ever been uncovered, with the rest still waiting to be explored. The Rose Theatre Trust is now raising £2 million to complete the dig as part of The Rose Revealed, a project to turn the site into a new exhibition, learning centre and performance space.
On the tours, visitors are shown the remains – preserved underwater and outlined with rope lights – while guides tell the story of The Rose from its 1587 construction through to its rediscovery and the fight to save it.
The London x London take: this is a genuinely rare chance to stand on the site of Shakespeare’s earliest working theatre, not a reconstruction of one. Tours are free for Southwark residents and for accompanied under-16s, so it’s well worth booking ahead if you’re local – and worth it either way for anyone interested in Elizabethan London.
Need to know
- Where: The Rose Playhouse, 56 Park Street, Bankside, London SE1 9AR
- When: Every Thursday, 17th September to 29th October, hourly from 10am to 3pm (tours last about 45 minutes)
- Price: £12 / concessions £8 (students, unemployed, OAPs, Equity members, Friends of The Rose); free for Southwark residents with proof of address, and free for up to four accompanied children aged 15 and under
- Booking: roseplayhouse.org.uk/guided-tours or the box office on 020 7261 9565
