I have NEVER been someone who hates Shakespeare. I think part of this was from a younger me being pretentious or something, but no matter the reason I’m grateful that I’ve always had an appreciation for Shakespeare. That being said, seeing a Shakespearean production in Shakespeares Globe was probably a dream come true. I honestly didn’t know till this class that the current Globe WASN’T from the 1600s, but the 1990s. That was a little disappointing, but I soon got over it.
Stepping into Shakespeare’s Globe (make a game out of how many times I say Shakespeare or Globe in this blog post) was like stepping back into the past. I knew that the theater had been recreated with all the surviving evidence to recreate the building as accurately as possible. While it probably wasn’t 100%, I have to imagine they were pretty spot on. I caught myself looking around, wondering what it must’ve looked like filled with the Elizabethan characters of Shakespeare’s time.
As for the play itself, I LOVED it. I could see the states doing a Western production of Romeo and Juliet, but watching the Brits do it had a certain charm to it. I could immediately tell from the pants tucked into boots that no person from the Southern U.S. was consulted, which gave me a bit of a giggle. Speaking of costumes, they were GORGEOUS. My favorite was Juliet’s wedding dress.
The set design was simple, yet affective. I know that the blood stains above the chair Tybalt dies in were from previous runs, but something about the blood being there added a foreboding element. Especially because characters who eventually die in the story, like Mercutio, sat in the chair during the show.
All of the actors were amazing. The stand out ones to me were Mercutio, and Romeo and Juliet themselves. Mercutio was extremely funny and knew how to play into the character’s inherent style and charm. Romeo and Juliet both played believable teenagers in love. Their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. Not to sound like a freak, but they had some of the best stage kisses I’ve ever seen. After some quick instagram stalking we found out they were not actually dating, but they could’ve fooled me. The scene at the end where Romeo and Juliet finally die was haunting. It wasn’t overly dramatic, but instead played into what it would actually be like to die their deaths. I feel like modern theatre makers have a tendency to really over dramatize Shakespeare, but this (in combination with standing a foot from the stage for three whole hours) felt like how Shakespeare was meant to be viewed.
Theatre in London U of A 