After a failed attempt to sleep in, I had a late breakfast and then set off for a matinee at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. This modern version of the original Globe of 1599 was built in 1997.
I opted to see "Julius Caesar" rather than the very gory production of "Titus and Andronicus". Sure, there is some blood in JC, but apparently Titus is particularly gory. Anyway, I've always liked JC, but hadn't read, or seen the movie, since the 50's. The theatre is an authentic reproduction...you can see the Elizabethan style from the photos. It is a circular structure with stairway towers and an open "yard" in the middle. The roof is thatch. There are three tiers of benches in a 2/3 semi-circle facing the stage. If you saw "Shakespeare in Love", you will be familiar with the layout. The "yard" in the middle is open to the elements and there are no seats. You stand....and no refunds if it rains. Whether you are on the hard narrow wooden benches or under the rain in the "yard", you feel just like an Elizabethan! I chose a seat at the rear of tier two, so with a back! I rented a cushion! Very wise. The play is three hours long with one short intermission. No photos allowed during the performance, but here are some taken beforehand.
The actors were still setting up some of the props while we waited...all part of the experience. Then suddenly at 2 promptly, there was an outburst from the yard. Yelling, hilarity, dancing from actors dotted here and there among the standees. Took me a minute to realize that the play had started...these were the Romans hailing Caesar's triumphant return in Act I. The actors really milked the moment. From start to finish you felt as if you, the audience, was part of the performance. If you were in the yard, you had actors coming and going among you onto and off the stage.
It was brilliant! All those wonderful, memorable lines..."The fault is not in the stars....."; "Let loose the dogs of war....". And most of all, Mark Antony's brilliant, cunning, very cunning oratory. One tends to remember only his first line.
The costumes were Renaissance with a few togas thrown over the shoulders for effect. The whole experience was just extraordinary. A must for anyone's bucket list.
The intermission came after Act III and, to be quite honest, the best was over. The battles of the final acts are a bit tedious. Then, after the final words, all the actors, who played multiple roles, came on stage to loud acclaim and did a long choreographed number of shouts, claps, stamps, dances. The Globe exploded! It was terrific. It must have lasted a good ten minutes.
Got back to the hotel and met Rachel and Jane for dinner at a pub just around the corner...the Shakespeare...rather fitting. We nabbed a tiny table and ordered good pub food and Guinness. At the next table were two well dressed young men...Muricans. One was quite loud...but let a Reed without sin cast the first stone in that regard! LOL. He disappeared for a bit. I took out my camera to show Rachel and Jane the photos of the Globe and he said "you'll have to take my picture." Tables are so close together that, sooner or later , conversations ensue. I asked him if he was camera-worthy. Just then, his very good looking companion returned and I, fueled no doubt by my first Guiness and and old lady's total disregard for propriety, opined that HE was camera worthy. The first one offered that a lady in a bar had called him a wanker. Jane said you must have said or done something really bad! Hilarity ensued the the game was on. Turns out they are from Minnesota, in law school there and doing a summer course in London.
Says I: Go Vikings
Eyebrows raised!
Says I, oh, in my salad days, I flew out to Vikings training camp and met Fran Tarkenton.
Really, Manketo?
Yup.
Then I start to sing the UMinn sing..."Minnesota hats off to thee..." They cannot believe this and join in to general hilarity. I may have been on my second Guinness by this point.
One asks: what are salad days?
I asked him if he was married or engaged (the loud one was married).
He said "engaged."
So, I said well. Your salad days are over. You think only guys can sow their wild oats! Oh, I was bad and just warming up.
And so it went on...
We had a blast. Before they left, Mr. Loud wanted a selfie of himself with me so he could show his wife that he met someone who knows the UMinn song. I said, "what, so she can see that it was a little old lady and not some gorgeous Brit."
Another fun day and evening. No night caps tonight. Just a quick trip to my room to see the views and take this photo.
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