STAGE

American actor and director Sam Wanamaker has won a 17-year fight to rebuild William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on its original London site. The council of the borough of Southwark Monday gave permission for Wanamaker to start planning his $20-million project on the south bank of the River Thames. The council had wanted to use the site for housing but last June agreed to drop its objections after a court action. “I faltered a lot of times but I never gave up hope,” Wanamaker, 67, told reporters. “I always believed we would win in the end.” He plans to open the 1,000-seat theater on April 23, 1992, Shakespeare’s birthday.