Visit The Rose this autumn as we re-open our doors to the public with our new guide-led Thursday tours.
See the site of the original playhouse, where a young William Shakespeare once acted, where his earliest tragedy Titus Andronicus was first performed, and where the plays of Christopher Marlowe – like Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine the Great, and The Jew of Malta – astounded Elizabethan audiences.
To celebrate, for September and October only, the tours will be FREE for both local Southwark residents, and for up to four children at a time who are 15 years old or under and are accompanied by an adult.
The Rose was built in 1587 and was the first theatre on Bankside, on the south side of the River Thames in Southwark. Its archeological remains, once thought lost, were rediscovered by chance in 1989, to the delight and wonder of the local community, historians, scholars, and theatre-lovers worldwide.
Those remains are now carefully preserved underwater, and are outlined with illuminated rope lights allowing you to see for yourself the shape and size of The Rose and its stage through the two phases of its development.
Our friendly guides will bring the space alive with artefacts that can handled, and using extracts from accounts and documents of the time will tell you the story of:
– how and why The Rose was originally constructed
– the people who worked and performed there
– its key role within the theatrical culture of the time
– its place within Elizabethan Bankside as an entertainment district
– its astonishing and unexpected rediscovery in 1989
– the star-studded campaign to save it
– what the archaeological dig has revealed to us
– our the exciting plans for the site's future
Tours last around 45 minutes, with time for questions at the end.
You’ll also have the opportunity to use our new digital guide to The Rose, available from the Bloomberg Connects app or via your browser, either before, during or after your visit. You can download it in advance via our website: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/bloomberg-digital-guide
See the site of the original playhouse, where a young William Shakespeare once acted, where his earliest tragedy Titus Andronicus was first performed, and where the plays of Christopher Marlowe – like Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine the Great, and The Jew of Malta – astounded Elizabethan audiences.
To celebrate, for September and October only, the tours will be FREE for both local Southwark residents, and for up to four children at a time who are 15 years old or under and are accompanied by an adult.
The Rose was built in 1587 and was the first theatre on Bankside, on the south side of the River Thames in Southwark. Its archeological remains, once thought lost, were rediscovered by chance in 1989, to the delight and wonder of the local community, historians, scholars, and theatre-lovers worldwide.
Those remains are now carefully preserved underwater, and are outlined with illuminated rope lights allowing you to see for yourself the shape and size of The Rose and its stage through the two phases of its development.
Our friendly guides will bring the space alive with artefacts that can handled, and using extracts from accounts and documents of the time will tell you the story of:
– how and why The Rose was originally constructed
– the people who worked and performed there
– its key role within the theatrical culture of the time
– its place within Elizabethan Bankside as an entertainment district
– its astonishing and unexpected rediscovery in 1989
– the star-studded campaign to save it
– what the archaeological dig has revealed to us
– our the exciting plans for the site's future
Tours last around 45 minutes, with time for questions at the end.
You’ll also have the opportunity to use our new digital guide to The Rose, available from the Bloomberg Connects app or via your browser, either before, during or after your visit. You can download it in advance via our website: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/bloomberg-digital-guide
LOCATION
The Rose Playhouse
56 Park Street, LONDON, SE1 9AR
Contact Details
Choose date
Select a date
Key
Available
Not available
Past session
Loading...
Contact Form
ROSE GUIDED TOURS - SEPT/OCT 2026
Resend recently purchased tickets to our events to your email.
Enter email to start search
You can review the event organiser's terms and conditions here.