One of the things I was most excited for was getting to experience Shakespeare’s Globe here in London. The icing on the cake is the fact that I got to experience Much Ado About Nothing, my all time favorite play of Shakespeares. I have auditioned several times now with Beatrice’s monologue and can recite it in my sleep. I will say, getting there was a wild ride. Let me just say that we did indeed arrive on time. Did we almost pass out from running so quickly? Yep!
While my body calmed down from the anxiety of rushing to the space, it was not until intermission, or as the Brits call it ‘interval’, that I was able to take it in. The first half of the play I sat in our assigned seating but decided that during the second half I wanted to experience being a groundling. I am sad that I did not stand the whole time, but the second half was phenomenal for me! Standing there, looking up at everything and everyone from where I was standing literally took my breath away. I always thought that the photos were beautiful of Shakespeare’s Globe, but seeing it with my own eyeballs? Pictures will never do it justice. When taking the space in, I thought about how different the experience would be during the 16th and 17th century, knowing what we know about the way theatre was experienced then. I would have tomatoes ready at the go in case I did not approve of what was happening. It would probably smell a little but it would be okay because we were experiencing theatre!
Even the way the actors were performing would be different. There more than likely would be less of a focus on character the way we know it today and a focus on words. There would be little to no props or set pieces. Costumes would not be extravagant.
The performance we experienced was truly magnificent! It greatly exceeded my expectations. I went into this experiencing thinking it would be vastly different than the theatre we have seen thus far. Everything we have seen has been fairly flashy and very technical. While it was different, it was still such an amazing production to experience. I was not at all disappointed in anything. The actors that played Beatrice, Benedick, and Dogberry were major standouts for me. All of the actors did incredible crowd work and I often found myself wondering if actors during the 16th and 17th century would have done crowd work similar to this to keep groundlings happy.
I really liked that there was no conceptualization that took place, or at least from what I could tell. The story took place in Messina, possibly sometime in the 16th century during the Italian Wars. The director, Sean Holmes, stayed true to the story and did not put it in a different era (which is much appreciated!) With much love and light, all of the contemporary American Shakespeare’s productions tend to put Shakespeare’s pieces in different eras. Very rarely will you find it in the actual era and time period it was written for. While I love a good conceptual, it is also great to experience it in the way it was relatively intended. I have often looked at Shakespeare with narrowed eyes because while he has written strong and powerful women, these women were written with the intent of men playing them. However, I love this specific piece so much and Beatrice is a dream role of mine!
While this production is closer than most productions in America get, this still was about 60 to 70% accurate to what it genuinely would have looked like back in the day. We would have had no lighting whatsoever. We would not have had most or any of the props that were used by the actors. We also would not have seen the trees with oranges on them. These elements allow for a more believable story to take place, but that was not the norm in the 16th and 17th century in theatre. The language would be the same. The costumes would be similar but not if they could not afford to have costumes.
Getting to experience my favorite Shakespeare play in Shakespeare’s Globe is always going to be the highlight of this trip but also my life. There are several times a day where I pause, reflect, and cannot believe I have this opportunity. What an absolute dream come true.
Ta ta for now!
Theatre in London U of A 