Rose Theatre

From Chester Wiki

The Rose was an sixteenth century Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built in London, after "The Theatre" (1576), the Curtain (1577), and the theatre at Newington Butts (c. 1580?). Suggestions have been made that Chester should be the home the "new" Rose. Cheshire West and Chester Council are bidding to make Chester home to a replica of the Rose Theatre, and if the Council’s exciting bid is successful, historic Chester will become the Northern base of the British Shakespeare Company.

Chester's connection with Shakespeare may be closer than one thinks as it has been suggested that the plays may have actually been written by William Stanley who travelled extensively abroad in his youth before retiring to Stanley Palace. William's brother Ferdinando Stanley was the founder of the group of players that staged many of Shakespeare's plays.

The timber-framed building, is a faithful replica of London’s Elizabethan Rose Theatre, pre-dating "The Globe", and was constructed for the movie "Shakespeare in Love" (starring Dame Judi Dench, Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow). Dame Judi, who won an Oscar for her performance as Queen Elizabeth, was given the dismantled set after filming finished. Apparently, she wants to see it rebuilt as a working theatre. In Chester, the "Gateway Theatre" has closed as a part of the Market/Northgate Development, yet the British Shakespeare Company is looking for a Northern home for the theatre - what better a solution than to put The Rose in Chester.

Where to site it? - well there have been comments that it could replace the Glass Slug and that it would have been a very suitable item for the location occupied by Chester HQ opposite the gates of Chester Castle. Another view is that if the site of the Groves is to be redeveloped then this would be an excellent location. On the other hand, the theatre should be on the south side of the river so perhaps we could replace the ugly pink flats or drop it in Edgar's Field.

[edit] Links

• Save The Rose - the original site, literally.
• Council Page on this.
• The Chester Chronicle's campaign to bring "The Rose" to Chester
• Survey Monkey