One of the first things I did when I moved to London was visit the Globe Theatre. My undergraduate degree is in English Literature, I love Shakespeare, and the first time I visited London in 2004 I didn’t get the chance to go. So in March of last year I took a tour of the theatre. The picture above is from that first visit. It was an amazing visit. Located along the Thames, the Globe is a beautiful place to see. It’s nestled between modern buildings but somehow when you’re right up against it, it’s easy to picture what it might have been like in Shakespeare’s time.
During that visit I walked around the museum exhibition first and saw historic objects and costumes from performances. I learned that the currently building is a reproduction that open in 1997 and was funded by an American called Sam Wanamaker. I toured inside the theater and learned that they had to get special permission to have a thatched roof because since the Fire of London in 1666 there’s a law against them. It was an incredible day where I just felt excited by all I’d be able to see and do in London. That day was a lovely sunny spring day, but on my most recent visit the weather was quite the opposite. This time it rained. And it rained a lot.
I had a great first visit to the Globe, yet it took me over a year to go back to see a play. Ryan and I talked about going, and always said we would, but we often forgot to sit down and buy tickets. So one day in July when I was thinking about it I decided to just buy a standing ticket so I’d finally go already. I fully know that being a Groundling is part of the draw when going to the Globe. It’s one of those authentic experiences that you’re supposed to have. Besides that, it’s cheap with tickets being just £5. But I wasn’t sure it was an experience I wanted to have. I mean standing for over 2 hours? That’s what I do at work why do it in my free time?
All the remaining seats for the day I wanted (last Thursday) were obstructed view, so I decided to try standing. Also, once I watched a play at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Virginia – which is a reconstruction of another Shakespeare theater and the seats were so uncomfortable. I went with my high school friends and their significant others to see The Country Wife, which was hilarious, but ohmygod were we uncomfortable. Straight backed wooded benches aren’t so snuggly. With that knowledge, I figured standing couldn’t be so bad.
My ticket was for Much Ado About Nothing, which is a comedy. I was really excited about going and then I saw the weather forecast a few days before. My app said rain and even had the little illustration of lightning. Great. But I was going. Because isn’t standing in the Globe Theatre while it’s raining one of those other super authentic experiences? Let me digress for a second to ask, if it was raining in Shakespeare’s time would people really have gone to the theater? Wouldn’t they have stayed home? Do we go in the rain now because it’s a tourist attraction? I don’t know.
All I know is I did see a show in the rain. Most of the time when you go to the theater you dress up and specially pick you outfit and do your hair. This was the same for me, but with a rain specific focus. Photo of my ensemble is above. And I can hear you saying, “wow! what are you wearing?! who are you wearing?!” because that’s how chic I look – so I’ll tell you. I wore Hunter Original Back Adjustable Wellies in Hunter Green, super soft skinny jeans from New Look, the shell from an LL Bean Storm Chaser 3-in-1 Jacket, and a cosmos large umbrella from the Science Museum. I washed my hair and put up wet into a tight top knot. Why do my hair when I was going to get rained on. Now you can have my ultra sweet look. 
I felt lucky to be a local because the tourists were wearing sandals and canvas sneakers, which were definitely getting water logged. Just in case you ever go to the Globe in the rain, please know you can’t use an umbrella inside but that they will provide you with a poncho if you don’t have anything. Anyway, as I stood in the rain before the show started my jacket started to cling to my arms, my backpack got heavy with water, I thought that maybe I wouldn’t be able to last throughout the whole show. But I did and it was totally and completely amazing.
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, so obviously people get married at the end. There are two couples – one who love each other from the beginning but misunderstandings ensue that keep them apart for awhile and the other couple hate each other at first and then they fall in love. If you haven’t seen it, check out the 2012 Joss Whedon version. It’s on Netflix (at least here in the UK). Anyway, you can see the ending pretty much from the beginning but the twists, the jokes, and above all the acting makes it mesmerizing. And of course the language makes it. I think Shakespearean English is like a muscle. When I don’t use it I’m out of practice and it takes me a bit to understand what’s going on, but once you warm up and get into it then appreciating the words gets easier and familiar.
Emma Pallant, the actress who played Beatrice, and Christopher Harper who played Benedick (the characters who hate each other at first) were incredible. The electricity they show between the two characters was intense and real. Pallant’s Beatrice is smart, snarky, likeable, and she also feels modern. The way she looks at Harper’s Benedick is just like a school girl who rolls her eyes as the popular boy pesters her, but wants him to come back and bother her because it’s fun to tease him too. And I found I couldn’t take my eyes of Harper’s Benedick. He was full of swagger and over confidence but completely endearing and I always wanted everything to work out for him. His physical humor was perfection. The way he hid when the character was eavesdropping on a conversation was over the top and expressive. When he strutted out on stage after learning that Beatrice loved him, he looked like a puffed up peacock. It was big and overt and side-splittingly funny. I truly found I couldn’t get enough of him.
It was also the most intimate and connecting theater experience I’ve ever had. I’ve been to plays where I’ve sat close to the stage and I’ve been to performances with seating for only 40 people – but this was something different. The actors came in and out of the audience. They talked to us – and even played catch using oranges with us. They made jokes about us and included us in the action. It felt like we were partners in the story and brought into the fold with each of the characters. Thankfully the rain did stop a little bit before intermission – but I couldn’t have left no matter what. It was one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had. I will definitely go back and this time won’t wait a year between visits. 
After the show I went to the gift shop. They had lots of fun objects. I liked the Groundling t-shirt, though I didn’t buy it. I also liked that phrase on the mug, because that’s exactly how I felt afterward – that I could waste my time there in the theater. I did buy the Shakespeare gingerbread cookie. It was funny and delicious. I also bought Bill Bryson’s book Shakespeare and a t-shirt that just said Globe Theatre on it.
That night when I went to bed, it felt like the first time I rode a roller coaster. This is nerdy, but hear me out. The first roller coaster I rode was called Kumba at Busch Gardens in Orlando Florida. I had wanted to ride a roller coaster for awhile and I finally got up the courage to do it. And it was a blast. Afterward my dad bought me a t-shirt from the ride and I remember feeling excited and exhilarated because I had had a wonderful time doing something I had dreamed about and had thought about for a long time. I wore that shirt as soon as I got home from the park and I remember feeling so happy. When I got home from that theater I had the same feeling. I felt like that little kid again, happy, excited, and wearing a crisp new t-shirt.
