Globe theatre appeal stage two

She said that Sam Wanamaker's original vision had come a huge step closer with a "fantastic" £1.5 million anonymous gift - but she appealed for further donations to help raise the £7 million required.

Sam Wanamaker, an actor, director and producer, dreamed of building an all-encompassing centre for Shakespeare on the South Bank.

The shell of the indoor theatre was incorporated into the blueprint of the Globe complex when it opened in 1997 nearly 30 years after he had the idea. But the space has been used for workshops and rehearsals as there was no cash to create an actual theatre.

Many of Shakespeare's greatest plays including The Tempest and The Winter's Tale were written for candlelit Jacobean theatres and not for outdoor spaces like the Elizabethan Globe. Other parts of Sam Wanamaker's original plans, including a library, remain unfulfilled. But his daughter said: "It's another notch up, leading towards the completion of the idea he had."

The anonymous gift has been offered in a scheme where for every pound the theatre raises, the donor gives a pound up to a combined total of £3 million.

Wanamaker said she was particularly thrilled that the indoor space, modelled on the more intimate venues of the Jacobean period, was to be named the Sam Wanamaker Theatre.

"He would have hated it but he is no longer with us and the effort that he put into the Globe and the passion, the love and tenacity was phenomenal and should be rewarded," she said.

"Sam couldn't understand why on the South Bank, where Shakespeare wrote most of his plays, there was nothing there to celebrate it. The South Bank was derelict when Sam first had the idea that it could be opened up and become a cultural walkway. He couldn't understand why from the Festival Hall [east] there was nothing there."

Wanamaker, who died aged 74 in 1993, lived just long enough to learn of the plans for Tate Modern which, with the Globe, helped transform the area.
Neil Constable, the Globe's chief executive, said: "Our wonderfully generous anonymous donor has given this money to bring us closer to completing the indoor theatre, but also by doubling donations we receive, we hope that this will encourage others to support this important project." The gift brings the total raised to £4.5 million.

Building work is scheduled to start in October.

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