Being at Shakespeare’s globe was so surreal!!! I cant believe that plays were performed in the original of this replica over 400 years ago, that seems so unreal. Shakespeare is known is one of the greatest writers of his century and honestly in every century and getting to be in the replica of where he acted and became a star was such an honor. Standing outside right at the front of the stage and looking around made me feel like I really could imagine actors from back then on stage and the community crowding in to come see a play. The theatre made Shakespeare so much more real to me and exciting and helped me understand more what theatre was like and how it functioned during the Elizabethan era.
Watching a Midsummer Nights Dream at the Globe differs from seeing an American production in many ways. First off you stand the whole time, which is not always the most fun thing. Second, the stage extends to the audience and there was pieces of stage in the audience. This set up creates a more intimate connection between the actors and the audience.The actors also interact with the audience, we literally had an actor grab our hands and ask us to sing with her. The theater also relies on natural lighting from outside but most modern productions use a lot of artificial lighting throughout the plays. This causes the audience to focus more on the play and dialogue rather than the visual aspects.
There are definitely important differences in plays put on at the Globe today than there would be back in Shakespeares time. All female roles were played by men during Shakespeares time, whereas now almost always female roles are played by female actors. The costumes were more modern than they would be back then. Some elements are still very similar in today’s productions though, one being that actors still performed in Shakespeares language. The Globe’s architecture and the performance made the play still interactive with the audience and created a connection between the actors and the audience. We are so extremely lucky to have experienced a similar sort of way of how people in Shakespeares time would’ve experienced a play at the Globe.
Theatre in London U of A 