The Globe Theater in Coburg is scheduled to open in early October 2023. The construction work is currently on schedule, said a spokesman for the Upper Franconian city. The new building is scheduled to open at the beginning of the 2023/24 theater season. The Globe Theater will serve as an alternative venue for the Coburg State Theater, which is in urgent need of renovation.
When the Landestheater am Coburg Schlossplatz will be renovated and how long this will take is still open. The props of the Landestheater would still be stored in an adjoining building, said the city spokesman. Stage elements are kept in a workshop in the Cortendorf district.
The round building of the Globe Theater has been under construction since autumn 2020 on the site of a former goods yard in the south of Coburg. Like the Landestheater, the Globe Theater will seat around 500 spectators. The alternative venue was originally supposed to open at the end of 2022. But then a company that was supposed to install the stage technology had to file for bankruptcy. The schedule went off the rails.
The round design of the Globe Theater is based on British models, particularly London’s Globe Theatre, which became world famous through performances of Shakespeare’s works. The city of Coburg traditionally feels very connected to England, because the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is related to the British royal family: Prince Consort Albert (1819-1861), the husband of Queen Victoria, comes from this house and is the great-great – Grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022.