A Bloody Afternoon at the Globe Theater
After wandering through Borough Market, we made our way to the Globe Theater. The Globe pictured here is a modern reconstruction named "Shakespeare's Globe", which opened in 1997. The original Globe Theater was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company. The original Globe was destroyed by a fire during a performance of Henry VIII on June 29, 1613. In the midst of the play, a theatrical cannon misfired and ignited the wooden beams and thatching. A second Globe was built on the same site in June of 1614, but was closed in 1642 by the Puritans.
The visitor's center of the Globe Theater
The Globe Theater gift shop
Waiting to get to our seats. The outer courtyard was buzzing with people.
The stage
And the crowd eagerly awaits for the performance to begin...
Back in 2009, when I was at UCL, I was fortunate enough to catch the final performance of Shakespeare's romantic comedy, As You Like It. I read this play in high school and I remember liking it, so I figured, "why not see this?" I was also dying to see a show at the Globe, so it seemed like a good fit. Living on a student's budget, I bought a cheap standing ticket for "the yard." Historically, this is where the peasants would stand and watch the performances, in Shakespeare's day. Now, you may think that standing for nearly three hours is rough, I know I thought it would be hard, but I was surprised by how pleasant the experience was. I arrived early and secured a spot up against the stage. There is something magical about seeing Shakespeare performed, rather than just read. I definitely picked up on more jokes and ended up loving the story even more, after this production. It was fantastic and I ended up buying the DVD when it came out! Here is the trailer for the production that I saw: As You Like It
Jack Laskey (Orlando) and Naomi Frederick (Rosalind)
Naomi Frederick (Rosalind), Laura Rogers (Celia), and Dominic Rowan (Touchstone)
On this beautiful summer day, my parents and I went to see Titus Andronicus. This is probably one of Shakespeare's darkest, most violent, and most gruesome tragedy, but personally, it's one of my favorite plays. I don't know what that says about me, considering the nature of this play, but after I read this play in college, I was mesmerized. Titus Andronicus is "set during the latter days of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of Titus, a general in the Roman Army, who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with Tamora, Queen of the Goths." (Wikipedia) This is a play filled with anger, betrayal, murder, lust, insanity, cannibalism, incest, torture, mutilation, rape…. I think you get the picture. This play has EVERYTHING. I think I've always been fascinated by this play because I've always been drawn to it's raw emotion. Shakespeare is definitely tapping into the darker side of human emotions and it's like a Tudor psychological thriller. I couldn't find a decent trailer for this production of Titus Andronicus, but I will share with you the trailer from the 1999 Julie Taymor adaptation, called Titus.
Leading up to our trip, I had been googling the show and seeing what people were saying about it. I was a bit shocked by what I found. Reviewers described the play as being "Quentin Tarantino" esque and that audience members were regularly fainting during the performance! When I read this, I thought. "who faints at a play? How realistic or traumatic can it be? It's just a PLAY." Wow, I was wrong. I was astounded by the number of audience members I watched collapse or simply walk out of the theater. There were a couple moments when ushers had to bring wheel chairs into the theater and wheel people outside! How insane is that?!
You may be wondering what I was originally wondering: how can a play be so traumatic that people pass out? Well, I'll tell you. As I mentioned, this is a revenge tragedy that does NOT skimp. If you can think of a terrible thing, this play has it. The scene that had most people passing out is when Titus' daughter Lavinia returns to the stage after being raped and mutilated. The production did not hold back. I don't know what they used for blood, but my dad commented that it was the most realistic blood he'd ever seen. I suppose if you have a low tolerance for that kind of violence and this is happened less than a foot away from you, I could see why you might pass out. Here is a news clip I found on Youtube that talks about this production and fainting audience members: "Theater Goers In Shock Over Gore at the Globe." Pretty crazy, huh?
In rehearsals. Here you have Titus (William Houston), tormenting Chiron (Brian Martin) and Demetrius (Samuel Edward-Cook), before slaughtering them.
Titus' victorious return to Rome, after defeating the barbaric Goths
Chef Titus serves the Emperor Saturninus (Matthew Needham) and Queen Tamora (Indira Varma)
I was blown away by this production. Everything about it was brilliant. The staging, the costumes, the interpretations, the use of space, and of course, the acting. From the moment the first drums sounded and the play began, all the way to the tragedy's conclusion, I was sucked into the story. I wept, laughed, I gasped…my emotions were all over the place. I give the Globe many kudos for staging such a brilliant production of Titus Andronicus. I can't wait for the DVD to come out so I can watch it again!
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