It was intended to be a replica of an Elizabethan theatre, putting actors centre stage in an atmosphere as close to Shakespeare’s day as they could muster.

But Shakespeare’s Globe has provoked the wrath of donors after it installed amplifiers and colourful lighting to its Tudor-inspired framework, in a move which has seen it likened to a “sixth form disco”.

The Globe has been accused of a “laughable” attempt at modernisation, with one critic calling the move “thoughtless, clumsy or a cynical betrayal” of the theatre’s origins.

The changes were revealed at previews of Midsummer Night’s Dream, the first production staged under the Globe’s new director Emma Rice which had its official opening night on Thursday.