# The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse - a candlelit theatre It's no secret that the the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe houses two extremely different performance spaces. The Globe is home to the outdoor Globe Theatre and the indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Now nine years old, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is modelled on the candlelit theatres of Shakespeare’s London. ## The history of The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Playhouse, which bears the name of The Globes' founder Sam Wanamaker, is modelled after the indoor lighted theatre Shakespeare and his contemporaries were familiar with. Although it is not a replica of a particular location, it echoes the Blackfriars Playhouse, which was used by Shakespeare's theatre company starting in 1609. ## About The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The cosy Sam Wanamaker Playhouse accommodates performances, concerts, educational seminars, and events all year long. It is lit by over 100 beeswax candles. The theater's primary performing season runs from October to April, although there is also a full calendar of activities throughout the summer. Sam Wanamaker always wanted Shakespeare's Globe to include an indoor theatre, therefore the Playhouse's brick shell was constructed at the same time as the remainder of the Globe site. But the shell wasn't converted into a playing area until 2012, when work finally started. In collaboration with the architects Allies & Morrison, The Globe's Architecture Research Group created a "archetype" of the early modern indoor playhouses found in London. The design is based on a set of designs for a theatre from the late seventeenth century created by John Webb, a former aide of Inigo Jones. The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse's design was based on these sketches.