A model of the Rose Theatre, which was originally built in 1587. Photograph: Ian West/PA.
Do you remember the hubbub when the remains of the Elizabethan Rose Theatre were first uncovered in 1989? What excitement there was about the first ever discovery of any material remains of the Renaissance English theatre. Do you recall how Peggy Ashcroft and Judi Dench and Ian McKellen and Dustin Hoffman spearheaded the campaign to save the site from being bulldozed by a development company before the archaeologists could do their work? And how the recorded voice of the dying Laurence Olivier quavered out the battle cry "God for Harry, England, and the Rose"?
Do you remember how volunteers with T-shirts saying "Save the Rose" rattled buckets in the foyers of theatres all over the land to raise funds? And how genuine new information emerged as a result of the all-too-short period of excavation carried out by enthusiastic supporters? - that the theatre was not a wooden O but polygonal, that the yard was not flat but sloped forwards, that the stage itself was unexpectedly shallow and tapered at the sides?
All that was 18 years ago. Despite the best efforts of our board of trustees - made up of archaeologists, theatre scholars and other enthusiasts - and despite the blue plaque marking the spot that Ian McKellen unveiled a year ago, a third of the site still lies undisturbed, clinging to its secrets under Southwark Bridge.
The excavated section lies covered with a damp concrete shell under the towering office block to which it was in danger of being totally sacrificed. The site can be visited, helpful volunteer guides are there to explain its significance, and there is a performance space where fund-raising events are held. Plays by the one-time house dramatist Christopher Marlowe have been put on, RSC actors staged a reading of parts of Titus Andronicus, performed there first in 1592, actors such as Susannah York, Richard Briers, Janet Suzman and Charles Dance have given generously of their time and talents, and on February 7, in three weeks' time, there will be a performance sponsored by the actors' cooperative agency Frontline Management.
But of course full investigation and presentation of this uniquely important site will cost millions. Do we care enough about our theatrical heritage to ensure this happens?
