Shakespeare > Theater Model
Fortune Theater Model
London: James P. Maginnis, ca. 1912
Columbia RBML Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum Collection
The Fortune Theater opened in 1600 just north of Aldersgate in London. It was loosely modeled on the Globe Theater, which had opened the previous year, and was built by the same Peter Streete. Although the Fortune Theater no longer stands, the details given in the construction contract have allowed this reconstruction, made for Brander Matthews by James P. Maginnis of London on a 300:1 scale. The model shows that the Fortune Theater was to be three stories high. Galleries, including the more expensive “gentlemen’s rooms” and “twopennie rooms,” surround a stage 43 by 27 feet. And instead of being in the shape of a "Wooden O," the building was square. The Fortune was located only a few blocks away from what is today the Barbican Arts Centre.
This model is on permanent display in the public reference space in the RBML. We invite students and other interested theater buffs to come and see it. Just ask at the front desk in RBML. This model is part of the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum collection, once housed in its own building on campus, now the site of the Law School. Matthews was a Columbia professor and theater history pioneer.