I finally got to see a show at the Globe. (It is indistinct, but in the photograph below I am holding my ticket for the play). I've been wanting to since I toured London over winter break freshman year and it is an experience not to be missed!
Watching Shakespeare is nothing like reading it. (Not that I can't appreciate his written word. I quite loved King Lear, but to see it performed is a phenomenal experience).
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We went as a group with our professor. We were all groundlings which means... you stand for 3 hours (with the exception of a 20 minute intermission - which they call "interval." We gave our legs and backs a break during that). If I ever returned for a show, I think I'd probably spring for seats, but I'm glad to have been a groundling this time. (Best to do it while you're young I suppose). We got there early enough to get right in the front row, center stage. We often had to part our crowd so the actors/actresses could enter and exit, which was like being a part of the play, not just watching the stage from the front row. We also were close enough to take a little souvenir home; at one point, Orlando writes love poetry on scrolls and he tossed them out into the crowd.
I think what I liked best was how the story truly came to life. The actors interacted with the crowd and their gestures, facial expressions, and actions helped the audience still follow the story even in parts where the language was a little more wordy. The actors had really great interaction with the audience and the plot of As You Like It is simply hilarious!
And to see a comedy is especially entertaining. You know how in Shakespeare's tradgedies you are lucky if anyone is still living at the end of the play. Well apparently in his comedies, everyone gets married at the end (hence the flowers tied to the pillars in the photograph below). And at the end, all the actors and actresses, including the old man, busted out in a modern dance - what I would liken to a Shakespearean version of the hand jive. Amazing!
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