Globe Theatre & "The Woman In Black"

After our usual breakfast discussion this morning, our day brought us over to Shakespeare's Globe. On our walk over from the tube, we were able to see the site of the original Globe, something they didn't discover until 1989. The original building site stands across the street from The Rose Theatre, built in 1587. It was quite fascinating to witness this small bit of history, especially after taking Dr. Kershner's "Shakespeare in Text and Performance" class during the 12-week.

Once inside the building, we saw the seating arrangement, which was quite similar to the way it would have been back in the 1500s. Being an open-air theatre, I can only imagine what they would do if a major thunderstorm came through. While the majority of the seats and the stage are covered, there is a large section of standing room seating which has nothing over it except the sky.

The experience at Shakespeare's Globe was even further

enhanced since we were able to watch a bit of the fight call for their performance that afternoon. I found it quite interesting how instead of using full stage combat, it ended up looking more along the lines of a very well choreographed dance with weapons. One of the actresses did many leaps as she was ducking out of the way of her opponent's sword.

From the theatre, we walked down the street to their rehearsal spaces. Here, we were able to experience an extremely energetic warmup, along with playing a few theatre games. Our task for the remainder of the morning was to explore an exchange from Romeo and Juliet between Lord Capulet and Juliet. The goal was to come up with several different ways to say the same combination of lines, but making it bigger and more forceful each time.

Although I would have been perfectly content staying at the Globe all day, we left to go to Borough Market. I was amazed at all of the smells, sights, and noises which could be heard. It was an awakening of the senses. There were many stands selling fresh fruit and vegetables, along with many other food stalls. After several days of not really eating veggies, I was more than happy to spend money on fresh peas.

From there, Emma, Zoe, Nara, and I went to the Tate Modern museum. Personally, I was not that impressed by the artwork we saw, but it could have possibly been a lack of understanding of modern art. There were still definitely some cool things, which included the exhibit with many different photobooks.

Our excursion then led us back to the Covent Gardens area, where we once again had dinner before our evening performance. Tonight's show was The Woman In Black, something I already knew was going to scare me. I don't watch horror movies, and I still get scared very easily.

While I certainly was extremely scared and spent the majority of the second act covering my ears and eyes, I was still very impressed at the acting. As there were only two main actors in the show, it was up to the two of them to carry the whole thing. Given it was such an intense story, you clearly have to be very skilled in order to practically carry an entire show.

Tomorrow we see Wicked! I'm so excited to see it for a second time, especially since the first was so long ago.