theatre-land

The Globe was fantastic. A bit rainy, a bit cold, yes, but those things were easily overlooked while watching the show.

It was a comedy, so there was opportunity for audience interaction, and the actor playing the Fool used it to its fullest extent. He would play hit on women standing next to the stage (one older woman came right back at him though), would be extremely silly (almost a bit too much at times, but it worked) and he had this little head on a stick, like jesters have and at one point he went to go walk off the stage (through the groudlings, people standing in front), stopped, looked up at the rain, then went back and put a mini poncho on the stick head. prolly the time I laughed the hardest.

Then at the end the entire cast broke out into a fully choreographed dance routine. A bit unexpected, but a lot of fun none-the-less. The production had some modern twists to it like that. You could tell they were having a lot of fun with it, and that translated into how much we in the audience enjoyed the performance.

I think my favourite actor was the guy playing the Melancholy man (the character prolly has a name, but I didn't catch it). I always enjoy droll personalities and dry wit, and this guy pulled it off with aplomb. He did disinfected to a T. It was great to watch. The interactions between all the characters/actors were incredible. I suppose you don't get to play The Globe by just looking good in a puffy sleeved shirt or a dress that I swear used to be a pair of draperies.

But it was still Shakespeare at it's core, and the actors were wonderful, especially the men. Men always come off better in Shakespeare's plays, I think its because he generally gave the male characters more dimension and complexity than his female characters, there is more for the actor to work with and thus they come off much more interesting on stage.

The jet planes flying overhead every 20 to 25 minutes or so during a Shakespeare production in a replication Victorian theatre was a bit strange and surreal, but the players knew how to deal with them, so it was just something that jarred you for a few seconds before you were drawn back into the performances.

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Ben and I at The Globe for As You Like It! awesome birthday present, thanks Mom and Dad!

In short, it was a ton of fun. This will not be the last time I visit The Globe.