Around the half-way point of the Great Gorilla Run, the route turns south across Southwark Bridge and greeting the runners as they descend the steep steps onto Bankside, is a national treasure – Shakespeare’s Globe.

The original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a performance company of which William Shakespeare was member.

Destroyed by fire in 1613, following an accident with a cannon during a performance of Henry VIII, the Globe was re-built the following year.

The theatre provided entertainment to Londoners for 30 years before being demolished following a Puritan campaign, who were outraged at the frequent displays of passion and emotion on stage.

And what an effective campaign it was – the Globe’s artistic outpourings were extinguished for over 300 years!

The revival began in 1970 when the American actor and director, Sam Wanamaker, visited London to try and find the original Globe site and was shocked to find no memorial to Shakespeare’s legacy.

Twenty-seven years later, Shakespeare’s Globe opened on the bank of the Thames, just a few hundred metres from the original Globe site that was discovered during the planning stages of the new Globe.

The discovery of the original site assisted the faithful re-production of the new Globe, with it’s open amphitheatre and the first thatched roof to be built in London since the Great Fire in 1666.

The theatre holds 850 people for it’s summer performance – about the same number of people who run the Great Gorilla Run each year.

I wonder what Shakespeare would have made of the sight of all those wonderful Great Gorillas running past on a September morning?

I think he’d quite enjoy it and would probably be moved to exclaim “Go gorillas!”

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PREVIOUS GREAT GORILLA RUN HIGHLIGHTS:

No.1: Agenda Bar
No.2: Clothworker’s Hall
No.3: The Millenium AKA ‘Wobbly’ Bridge
No.4: The Tate Modern