Finding the Curtain Theatre

In June 2012 archaeologists from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) undertook exploratory digs at the site of the Curtain playhouse in Shoreditch and found the well preserved remains of one of the earliest of Elizabethan playhouses; those distinctive London monuments from the golden age of English drama. Neil Constable, chief executive of Shakespeare’s Globe, said: “The find is another wonderful opportunity to further our understanding of Shakespeare’s theatres.”

Research had indicated the approximate location of the building and Hackney Council placed a commemorative plaque on 18 Hewett Street in 1993. The excavations found that the Curtain’s precise location which was only a stone’s throw away from the plaque. Although only a small part of the building has been revealed, the discoveries include the walls forming the galleries and the surface of the yard, or standing area, in the centre. The building would have been polygonal, the closest approximation to a circle that Elizabethan carpenters could manage, with an external diameter of 72 feet (22m). The stage would be on the east with the entrance to the playhouse off Curtain Road on the west.

Plough Yard Development now have planning permission to develop the site which will include further excavation and display of the Curtain remains as a main feature of the redevelopment. MOLA is confident that about three quarters of the original playhouse may be revealed which will add enormously to the study of Shakespeare’s working conditions as well as the general history of the site.