The Rose (theatre)

The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre (1576), the Curtain (1577), and the theatre at Newington Butts (c. 1580?) – and the first of several playhouses to be situated in Bankside, Southwark, in a liberty outside the jurisdiction of the City of London's civic authorities.

The Rose was built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe and by a grocer named John Cholmley. It was the first purpose-built playhouse to ever stage a production of any of Shakespeare's plays. The theatre was built on a messuage called the "Little Rose," which Henslowe had leased from the parish of St. Mildred in 1585. The Rose was the first of several theatres to be situated in Bankside, Southwark near the south shore of the River Thames. The area was known for its leisure attractions such as bear/bull-baitings, gaming dens and brothels. It was located in the Liberty of Clink, a liberty outside the jurisdiction of the City of London's civic authorities. The Rose contained substantial rose gardens and two buildings; Cholmley used one as a storehouse, while Henslowe appears to have leased the other as a brothel. North of London, professional playhouses like the Curtain Theatre and The Theatre had already been open for over a decade. However, Henslowe recognized the ease at which audiences could ferry across the River of Thames and established a playhouse in this particular location.

The theatre was built by the carpenter John Griggs. The new building was of timber, with a lath and plaster exterior and thatch roof. In shape it was a fourteen-sided polygon, of about 72 feet (22 m) in external diameter. The inner space was also a fourteen-sided polygon, about 47 feet (14 m) wide. Modern calculations show that the dimensions and fourteen-sided layout were dictated by the use of the standard 16th-century measure of one rod as a base and the carpenter's "rule of thumb" method of dividing a circle into seven equal parts, subdivided.

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