News round-up: Sam Wanamaker PlayhouseÂ’s first anniversary, The Stage Awards and new interview

10 January 2015 22:08

The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, built in the style of an indoor Jacobean theatre and named in honour of Zoë's father, celebrated its first anniversary yesterday. To celebrate the occasion, the Playhouse's sister theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, published a series of blog articles about the Playhouse's development and success.

The articles include a concise biography of Sam Wanamaker, who not only worked tirelessly to build The Globe on London's South Bank but also made plans for it to be joined by another venue, the indoor theatre; as the article emphasises, Zoë's father was truly a 'visionary man'. Another article presents a series of videos, providing insight into the building of the Playhouse, while the impressive list of awards, nominations and plaudits highlights just how much this 'exquisite little jewel box' (in the words of the Independent) has achieved in the twelve months since its first season began.

The Playhouse's nomination for The Stage's Theatre Building of the Year 2015 award is particularly timely, the news of it having been announced just days before the anniversary. The Globe has also received a nomination in The Stage Awards – in the International category. The Globe truly has gone global in recent times, with its mission to perform Hamlet in every country in the world.

What's more, as its Twitter profile points out, The Globe has successfully raised £7.5 million, match-funded by an anonymous donor, in order to create the Playhouse, which was officially opened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a special event attended by Zoë. So far, more than 92,000 people have visited this candlelit theatre.

Meanwhile, The Manor Academy has published an exclusive interview with Zoë in its school newspaper, The Manor Gazette. Zoe recalls particularly enjoying Art, English and History when she was at school, and she has excellent advice for anyone currently studying: 'Get as much out of it as you can and don’t ever stop learning.'

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