This thesis analyses and contextualises the performances of Shakespearean and other plays at the reconstructed Globe theatre in London between 1996 and 2000. It contends that these performances raise compelling issues, both for dramatic production and in relation to broader social and cultural concerns because of the Globe's founding commitment to authenticity, which has been expressed most obviously by the meticulous reconstruction of the new Globe building, and through reconstructed authentic performance practices. Further, it is the argument of this thesis that this commitment to authenticity expresses urgent concerns of the new Globe's contemporary placing and role. Thus, the first three chapters of the thesis refer to the actual performances only briefly as various contexts of authenticity are explored. In these chapters the Globe is positioned within debates about historical, personal and individual authenticity, within the discourse of Shakespeare's supposed universalism, and within the concept of 'authentic performance'. Each of these contextual enquiries is tied to a central concern of this thesis, the articulation and constitution of identity and subjectivity. The focal points of the second half of the thesis are the Globe productions and performances themselves. The first of these chapters concentrates on productions of reconstructed authenticity and explores some of the ideological positions encoded in their representations. The remaining two chapters analyse productions that could be described as non-authentic; productions of non-Shakespeare plays, and visiting productions from other countries. An argument is developed (one which is anticipated by the theoretical underpinning of the first half of the thesis) that, in general, the 'authentic' productions are more likely to represent conservative ideologies and to perpetuate hegemonic identity positions. This thesis contributes to the emerging field of studies of Shakespeare in performance by applying a complex web of interdisciplinary perspectives to its consideration of new Globe theatre practice. It analyses many of the productions staged at the new Globe between 1996 and 2000, and evaluates some of the key critical debates as they relate to authentic performance practice.