The Globe of The Great Southwest

The Globe of the Great Southwest is a theater in Odessa, Texas inspired by the Globe Theatre. As well, the complex has a replica of Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Both buildings are located on the campus of Odessa College.

The construction of the theatre was done with primarily wood and plaster. The building is a simplified and modernized version of its much larger Elizabethan namesake: both have an apron stage backed by a two-story fixed set that forms one side of an octagonal courtyard surrounded by wooden balconies. The theatrical term for the area directly behind the stage used by actors is the “inner above” - a term still used in theatre design today. The Globe Theater is octagonal with a covered courtyard containing fixed seats for 441 attendees and a single balcony, while the original London theater was a 20-sided polygon with an open-air courtyard where most attendees stood, and three balconies offered more expensive seats: total capacity may have been as high as 3,000. As of 2022, it “is home of the annual Odessa Shakespeare Festival, the Odessa Brand New Opree, and the Permian Basin Opera.”