WASHINGTON, D.C.- If “all the world’s a stage,” as William Shakespeare put it in As You Like It, then it had better be well designed. The National Building Museum’s newest exhibition, Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century, traces the longstanding fascination with the Globe theater, in which many of Shakespeare’s plays premiered, and the numerous efforts to evoke the spirit of that structure in subsequent theater designs. The show culminates with a series of hypothetical Shakespearean theaters for the 21st century, which suggest innovative strategies for bringing the playwright’s work to modern audiences. The exhibition is part of Washington, DC’s citywide “Shakespeare in Washington” festival and will be on view January 13 through August 27, 2007 in second floor galleries.

Interpretive models and renderings of the Globe and photographs of subsequent Shakespearean theaters over the past 400 years illuminate the history, importance, and subsequent interpretations of the Bard’s famous stage. The exhibition culminates with five commissioned projects by talented architects and designers: John Coyne, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, Office of Mobile Design, the Rockwell Group, and Michele Saee Studio.

The exhibition begins with an introduction to Elizabethan theaters, where reproduction maps, excavation diagrams, sketches, and images reveal the architecture and vibrant theatrical life of 16th- and 17th-century England. The Globe itself is represented by a conjectural model completed in 1950 by John Cranford Adams made of walnut, plaster, and pencil eraser strips, as well as reproductions of engravings, drawings, and excavation plans of the Globe site.

Since the Globe’s demolition in 1644, the famous stage has been imitated and reinterpreted across the world (despite the lack of definitive evidence of the Globe’s appearance and structure). Computer animations, models, and photographs of Shakespearean theaters designed since the 17th century around the world reveal these iterations. Sample projects include an Ice Globe built (and later melted) in Sweden in 2003; the Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, DC, designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects Inc. (scheduled for completion in 2007); and the New Globe Theater in New York, New York, designed by Foster and Partners (scheduled for completion in 2012).

The exhibition culminates with five new and dramatic interpretations of Shakespearean theaters for the 21st century by John Coyne, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, Office of Mobile Design, the Rockwell Group, and Michele Saee Studio. These projects all propose taking advantage of modern technologies to make Shakespeare’s work more accessible—physically, intellectually, and emotionally—to contemporary audiences. For example, Michele Saee’s design physically represents the actors’ movements on and off stage, creating a space with the same fluidity and organic qualities of the performance itself. The Office of Mobile Design proposes a mobile, modular vehicle that can transform into a fully equipped theater on any relatively flat site. Breaking down the formality of a structured theatrical environment, Rockwell Group conceived of the entire theater as a stage, one in which the audience is immersed in the experience; spectators become active influencers and the theater itself becomes a performer. Digital renderings and models bring the innovative ideas to life for the visitor.

Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century is made possible by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Mrs. Emily Malino Scheuer; Jacqueline and Marc Leland; and the Wolfensohn Family Foundation.

The exhibition was organized by the National Building Museum as part of Washington, DC’s Shakespeare in Washington festival, a six-month, city-wide celebration of William Shakespeare's influence on culture and entertainment organized by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Martin Moeller, senior vice president and curator at the National Building Museum, curated the exhibition. Reed Haslach, also of the National Building Museum, served as the assistant curator. The exhibition design is by MaryJane Valade, exhibition designer and preparator at the National Building Museum; graphic design is by Nancy Van Meter.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will offer various education programs, including: a moderated discussion with Barbara Romer, Ph.D., founder of The New Globe Theater; John Coyne, theater consultant and set designer; and NBM Senior Vice President and Curator Martin Moeller on February 6; a Shakespeare Family Day presented with the Folger Shakespeare Library on May 12; a Construction Watch Tour on May 19 of the Harmon Center for the Arts with architect Jack Diamond; and a Spotlight on Design lecture in June with David Rockwell.