Celebrating the 101st anniversary of Sam Wanamaker's birth

14 June 2020 20:26

Beautiful weather like the UK is currently enjoying is perfect for watching open-air theatre (hopefully it won't be long before we can do that again). How appropriate, then, that 14 June 2020 marks 101 years since Zoë's dad and Shakespeare's Globe's founder, Sam Wanamaker, was born.

The Globe, which had its own birthday just a couple of days ago, is celebrating Sam Wanamaker and his incredible legacy with photos on Instagram and fans' memories on Twitter. One fan describes her parents watching him on stage in 1957 in The Rose Tattoo, a powerful Tennessee Williams play Zoë later starred in herself (giving 'the performance of her career', in the Guardian's words).

You can read about Sam Wanamaker's many achievements and learn about 'the extraordinary life of one visionary man' in an article on the theatre's blog. His determination was particularly extraordinary, as the article emphasises: 'While many had said that the Globe reconstruction was impossible to achieve, Sam persevered for over twenty years, overcoming a series of monumental obstacles.'

One of his friends, Barry Day, has penned a moving tribute elsewhere on the blog. Again, Zoë's dad's determination comes to the fore: 'Sam’s vision and his single-minded commitment was undoubtedly the driving force that kept the project on track through the decades and propelled it through the ''down'' moments.'

For more insights into how The Globe dream became reality, why not pick up Day's lively book, This Wooden 'O': Shakespeare's Globe Reborn?

A year and a day ago, the first full-length biography of Zoë's dad, Sam Wanamaker: A Global Performer by his friend Dr Diana Devlin, was launched at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Globe's indoor companion theatre. Guests at the special event included Zoë, her elder sister Abby and many other people who knew Sam Wanamaker and are involved with the two theatres.

You can hear from the great man himself, thanks to 'Remembering Sam Wanamaker', an episode of Shakespeare's Globe's Such Stuff podcast series. Zoë's dad emphasises: 'Shakespeare belongs to everyone, we know that. And this place [The Globe] will be the centre for the understanding of his works, for helping young people to get over the difficult barriers of language. Welcome. Watch us grow. We’re going to be here and create and transform the most exciting new area of London and Britain.'

And of course that is exactly what The Globe, its founder and dedicated team have achieved.

Reconstructing Shakespeare's theatre 'was Dad’s project for 27 years [...] the tenacity of the man,' remarked Zoë in a recent interview with the Observer.

If you’d like to celebrate Sam Wanamaker and support the amazing theatre he built – a registered charity that receives no regular government subsidy – at this incredibly challenging time, please consider joining me in donating to The Globe.

What better way to conclude this article than with a portrait of Zoë 's dad by the talented amateur artist Gareth Bevan? Fantastic, isn't it!

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