“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend me your Ears….”

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Last year at school, we studied the Renaissance period and also performed the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare. During this unit, some of my classmates did a project on the Globe Theatre which was the theatre where Shakespeare performed his plays. I was interested to see it in person while we were in London. If you would like to read a book about the time of Shakespeare, I would recommend the book “Cue for Treason” by Geoffrey Trease.

Before watching the play, we went on a guided tour of the theatre to learn more about it. The Globe Theatre that is in London now isn’t actually the original; it’s the 3rd one – the other 2 were destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt by a man named Sam Wanamaker in the 1990s, because he was interested in the theatre and sad there was nothing to represent The Globe. So he had it constructed as close to the original site of the first Globe Theatre as possible. He also had it built in the Elizabethan era style by using oak planks and dowels. It is also the only building in London with a thatched roof because they were made illegal after the Great Fire in 1666.

The Globe

The theatre is shaped like a globe with wooden benches for seats around the perimeter of the stage.  It is an open roofed theatre and natural sunlight is used for the matinee performance, while actual lights are used for the evening shows.

We bought tickets for “the Yard” which is the section in front of the stage where everyone stands to watch the show. Back in Shakespeare’s time, The Yard was where the poor people or “penny-stinkers” watched the play because the tickets were really cheap (one penny), and their hygiene wasn’t the best, so they smelled bad!

We saw the current production of “Julius Caesar“, by William Shakespeare.  The play is about Roman generals, named Cassius (Anthony Howell) and Brutus (Tom McKay), who were not in agreement with Julius Caesar’s (George Irving) rise to power – they thought he was too ambitious. So they formed a group of conspirators to plot against him. Little did they know what their actions would bring about….

Here are my thoughts on this play.

While we were waiting in line to get into the play, two of the actors performed a puppet show. They set the stage for the upcoming show by telling us what had happened earlier. I found it hilarious because they used unusual accents and said lines from famous movies like “The Princess Bride” and “The Lord of the Rings“. It was a great way to connect with the audience and get everyone laughing.

I also really loved the musical accompaniment during the play. There wasn’t a big orchestra, but I thought the music was perfect to enhance the story.  Another part of the music I loved was a song three of the actors sang every time someone died in the play. The song was beautiful and haunting and I wish that I could learn it some time.

The costuming was really unique, as the actors were dressed in both costumes from the Elizabethan era along with Roman  togas for the Senators. I think it’s so cool how the costumes were integrated. When we go to see Shakespeare’s plays at High Park in Toronto, the actors always wear modern clothing during the plays, which I like as well. I think I like both ways – the traditional and the modern.

My favourite part of the show was at the end of the play, all the actors did a jig! Our tour guide told us that at the end of the plays in Shakespeare’s time, the actors would do a jig at the end of every show to indicate the play was over. It was a great way to finish the play with a bit of humour. Watching the actors do the jig made me laugh because some of the people who were supposed to be dead, got up and started dancing!

The only thing I didn’t like was the death of Cinna the Poet; I thought it was much too violent and unnecessary. For Caesar’s death scene, it was very graphic with a lot of fake blood, but I found it showed how painful and disturbing his death was .

I have mixed feelings about this play, because the acting, costuming, music, and set were amazing, but it is the most depressing play I have ever seen. For those of you who would like to see this show, it is a play about politics, pride, power, loyalty, betrayal, and envy.  I would totally recommend it because I think it’s incredibly good – but tragic .

“Et tu Brute? Then fall Caesar.”

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Comments

10 responses to ““Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend me your Ears….””

  1. RAVI PULIANI Avatar
    RAVI PULIANI

    I have got addicted to your mails and am enjoying ‘travelling’ with you. The moment I receive the mail, I leave all my work and must read it.

    1. Mikhaila Avatar

      Hi Ravi!

      Thank you for your beautiful comment! It feels good to know that people are reading and enjoying our blog posts. We hope to meet you when we come to India.

  2. Hi Mik,

    I found this blog full of wonderful information, and the pictures are beautiful! Love Baba

    1. Mikhaila Avatar

      Hello Baba!

      Thank you for commenting! I loved seeing the building that I learned about in class. It was also a very beautiful theatre, and I am glad that I got the chance to go through this experience.

  3. Harriet Johnston Avatar
    Harriet Johnston

    Hi Mikhaila,
    Thanks for taking us to the Globe Theatre with you. That sounds like an awesome experience and you described it so vividly. I’ll have to put that on my list for next time I visit London.
    Harriet (Kat’s friend)

    1. Mikhaila Avatar

      Hi Harriet!

      Be sure to visit the theatre; you won’t regret it. If you would like to stand in the yard, I would suggest going to line up earlier so that you can get a good place to stand close to the stage. I like the yard because you can choose to stand wherever.

  4. Hi Mikhaila, I am just catching up with the blogs and enjoyed your posting and the pictures very much. I remember seeing the School project of the Globe Theatre. It’s interesting to see the photos from different angles, is the Theatre that big? I think I’ll do a bit of reading as per your recommendation. The puppet theatre looks a lot of fun.

    1. Mikhaila Avatar

      Hello Oma!

      The theatre is pretty big, it’s much bigger than I thought it would be after seeing the pictures of it in class! The book “Cue for Treason” is a really good book, and I really enjoyed reading this in school.

  5. Hi Mikhaila,

    years ago I´ve been to the globe, seeing a funny play (much ado about nothing) and enjoyed it tremendously. Thanks for bringing back the memories! Great pics, too!

    I contacted your family via couchsurfing (my profile name there is vruwel)- maybe we meet some day in Germany!

    Anja

    1. Mikhaila Avatar

      Hello Anja!

      We had hoped to see the play “The Comedy of Errors” at the Globe, but it doesn’t start showing until the beginning of September! Maybe we can share our Globe experiences if we come to your part of Germany.