a little bit of Shakespeare

After fan-girling my way through the Sherlock Holmes Museum, Emma and I decided to immerse ourselves in a bit of Shakespeare. It's unfortunate that I did not have the opportunity to go to Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace, along with Anne Hathaway's cottage), but I must say that this experience was in itself a learning stretch for me. It made me realise how much I had missed studying Shakespeare for English at school.

Just thinking of the theatre itself, and how much its architecture had contributed to the plays' atmosphere does indeed humble you greatly. Though we have IMAX theatres and booming sound systems now in the age of technology; there is something quite personal and intimate about an outdoors theatre, specifically, the Globe Theatre, that I find missing in our day to day advancements.

Located directly by the Thames River, the Globe was indeed a landmark in itself. Though the reconstruction of the building itself was not where the original theatre was, the original site is not far behind. Initially, much to my surprise, the Globe had a rather quiet presence about it. It was not as big as I had envisioned it to be, nor was it as...powerful, I guess you could say. It goes to show that my constant exposure to big skyscrapers have almost ruined my ability to appreciate a building with such a lively and exciting history behind it.

This impression of the theatre soon changed once the tour began. Tourguides too often get unnecessarily enthusiastic about the wrong things, but fortunately enough our tourguide for the Globe was brilliant. She was knowledgeable about a wide range of interesting topics, and engaged all of us particularly in the way she addressed the tour group.

She focused mainly on the architecture of the theatre, and the people that would visit the theatre, all the while comparing it to our modern day version of a theatre. I find that most "history" lessons tend to skip this part entirely. Guaranteed, comparing the past (especially if it was a good century or two ago) to the present can be unfair due to societal changes, but I find that to be a rather negative and all too realistic approach to history. History is about the study of us, really, and what better way than to see how far we've come? There's no such thing as better, or worse, or right, or wrong. Merely that history is happening, and even as I am typing this blog, history is taking place. Though I am not too certain if this entry will go down in history textbooks for the future; there's no harm in hoping right? :P

The tour guide explained that the rich simply went to the theatre to show off. Of course, it was to enjoy the play as well, but their choice of seat was often to the far left or right of the theatre, which obviously would not give as direct an impression as where the middle class would often sit (middle rows, second and third floor). The lower working class would have to stand in front of the stage, and had to stand the entire length of the play. The estimated number of people that would fit in the theatre today is around 1500. Back then, they could squash 3000 people into the theatre. Taking into account the poor hygiene they had as well, the horrible smell would apparently reeked for miles on end.

The actors were also known to engage with the audience much more, and in fact spur responses from the crowd from time to time. I can't imagine audience participation in a play in our time today, let alone someone from the audience answering an actor in his or her soliloquy. As I mentioned earlier- it's simply amazing how intimate Shakespeare's plays were at the time. It's no wonder that people would spend 1/12 of their wages just on the admission fee.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and the atmosphere around it as well. The view from the Thames was simply breathtaking, especially with St Paul's cathedral peeking out from the landscape. The Tower Bridge can be spotted somewhere down the line as well; though I could not find the time to visit.

On that note; all the world's a stage, and the men and women merely players.

All my love always,

April