Shakespeare’s Globe to name new stage after founder Sam Wanamaker

Shakespeare’s Globe -- the famous outdoor theater venue in London -- will honor its late founder, the once-blacklisted American actor-director Sam Wanamaker, by naming a new indoor stage after him.

The indoor venue, which will enable the company to produce year-round, will be called the Sam Wanamaker Theatre. Wanamaker worked for many years to create the Globe but died in 1993 before he could see the finished project, which debuted in 1997. The new theater space will seat approximately 320 people and will be lit by candlelight in the historic Jacobean tradition, according to report from the BBC News.

The company’s original conception of the Globe included an indoor stage, but that the intended space was left as a shell to be divided for various uses. The new stage will be a renovated version of the space.

Wanamaker was blacklisted during the McCarthy era and made England his permanent home. He worked for nearly three decades to raise money for the Globe. Actress Zoe Wanamaker, his daughter, serves as the Globe’s honorary president.

The indoor theater venue is expected to debut in early 2014. It comes with a price tag of approximately $12 million, with about $1.6 million that still needs to be raised, according to the BBC News.

The company produces Shakespearean plays at its outdoor venue and for international tours. Its touring production of “Hamlet” recently completed a run at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

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