Sunday 2 September 2012

Changes, changes.... A Groundling's Tale

This grand place is the open air stage of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, in London. Well, partly open air. Actually the actors are covered by that splendid ceiling, and those who pay handsomely for seats also stay dry. But when we went the other day, we were "groundlings" - the poor saps who pay just £5 each and take a risk with the weather. (Though in some ways it is more fun, not just cheaper. At least you can walk around).


If it rains, the groundlings get wet. You can see some of my fellow groundlings here.

Most of us were equipped with umbrellas, because the sunshine was not to be seen. The rain held off for the performance, but we'd got soaked just cycling to the theatre.

London has its share of old theatres with amazingly decorated interiors. (Many of the oldest ones are not very comfortable either.) But Shakespeare's Globe, despite its thatched roof and old-world appearance, was only built in the 1980s, as a replica of the original Tudor theatre where Shakespeare himself played. It's a fascinating story and I recommend you read it here.

The place was packed. We had come to see Mark Rylance doing his famous performance as Richard III. Among his other crimes, this famous hunchbacked king of England is supposed to have murdered two little Princes who stood between him and the throne. Rylance portrays Richard as a sort of neurotic Stalin figure, lurching between jolliness and murderousness. Very unsettling.

There were some kids in the audience. Even if you understand the old fashioned language (at least T and I both did Shakespeare at school) Richard III is a hard play for kids. They maybe only understood one word in five. Their expressions of the ones below are not that enthusiastic, although I expect it was good for them.... and I hope that they liked

the gorgeous costumes, the wonderful band playing lively music of the period (click the link to hear). Here's the band, in the gallery above the stage.


You're not allowed to take photos during the performance so these of the actors were taken at the end. Rylance is in the armour.



You might notice that the "woman" on the far right is in fact a dressed up man. Women never appeared on the stage in Shakespeare's time. Below, you see the poor little princes, rather oddly dressed in pink. They were both extremely good but the younger of the two had the most amazing presence and stole every scene he was in, making it very clear what a haughty and domineering little creature an eight year old prince could actually be. I wish I knew his name, but any child's role in any professional play always has several actors, because kids are only allowed to work for a limited number of hours a week.


At the end they did a wonderful dance - a great sight in those costumes.

Afterwards, we cyled home via Park Street, where the original Globe was built, (the circled building, labelled wrongly in the old print as a bear baiting arena)


This plaque commemorates the theatre. The bas-relief shows the scene in Shakespeare's time..


Quite a lot else happened in Park Street, too. it seems. It was home to many breweries - not surprising, since the area was known as a "stew" -

a mixture of pubs and brothels, animal-baiting pits and playhouses all crammed together.
Click the link for my post on sad, sinister Old Cross Bones, the burial place of many of the unwanted prostitutes who worked here.

It is also where General Haynau, the anti revolutionary general, was beaten up by a couple of draymen while visiting (yes, you guessed it) a brewery.



I really wished I could travel in time and walk round this area in different centuries. When I first went there, as a teenager, most of it was derelict. Now, it's smart offices and luxury flats, highly desirable. Wonder what it will be in 100 years' time. or 500.

64 comments:

  1. The theater is beautiful! Sorry you got wet on the way but it sounds and looks like it was worth it!

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  2. Looks like a very colourful performance. I know I read a novel once based on a theory about that murder of the two princes. Just now I can't recall neither the author nor the title nor the theory (so much for the benefits of reading)...

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  3. Sounds like a good outing! Yet another place I have not been to but want to. I loved reading about the lead mine below too-and especially the spar boxes-I had not heard of them. I love Victorian things like that. I certainly would not have wanted to be a Victorian lead miner though!

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  4. a beautiful theater, and I would love to have seen this, not sure about the ground ling thing though, i am not a fan of rain. thanks for stopping by my post today

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  5. Hello Jenny:
    What an occasion this all sounds to have been. We know that we should have loved all this and although we have been to Stratford many many times, we have yet to see a performance at the Globe. We are sure that as a 'groundling' the performances are so much more immediate and intense as a result. Richard 111 would be a perfect choice!

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  6. What an experience!

    I think I won't mind being wet too, and join the groundlings to enjoy the theatre. :)

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  7. Ah the globe theater, I've had to help each son build a replica of you when they took AP European History. It's not easy making a round building.
    True story about Shakespeare and the bible belt south: In middle school and high school, we were required to read many a Shakespeare plays including Romeo and Juliet. Now the versions we read has all the sex scenes and sexual innuendos removed from the text. NEVER were we told about them. In fact, when we went to see the movie version of it, we were told that the bedroom scene was added by the director (hinting at it wasn't part of the original play). Now fast foreword to my adulthood, most of my kids are grown except for the youngest. I went on a field trip with 60+ students (half of them from Germany,here as exchange students)as a chaperone to go to an 'ethnic' production of Romeo and Juliet. One of the actors came out and spoke to me before the play about how the men in the play would be wearing cod pieces between their legs. His concern was that these high school students (ages 15-18) would laugh or be offended when they saw them.
    That should have been the least of his concern.
    When the play started and all the sexual innuendos came 'flying at us from the stage' I had boys who couldn't stop giggling, girls who knew they were doomed to hell for watching it, and me who had no idea this was in the play. Later I talked with the teacher(s) who had planned this field trip about it. The German teacher said it wasn't her students because in Germany they have their students read the unedited version of the play. But then she added that most of the students there hadn't read it yet. The high school teacher only said he had no idea that the play would have it.
    Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a prune, but I would have prepared the students for this if I had known about it (I'm the one who got to explain to the group about the cod piece) but thanks to the 'clean version' I learned, I didn't.
    But it does make for a great story ;o)

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  8. The views, the sounds, the people, the performance . . . a very pleasant day . . .

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  9. What a nice treat this morning to visit the Bard in jolly olde England!

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  10. You've made my day with your photos of Mark Rylance. I'm fascinated by his characterizations, although I've never seen his performances in person. This sounds and looks like a most wonderful day. The theater itself would have made for a good time, but all else you described (I love that the original print mislabeled the theater as a bear baiting pit) has also brought your day to life for me. What a day! A very enjoyable post.

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  11. We were staying in Moreton in Marsh in 2001 and had tickets to attend a performance at the Globe tickets. The tickets were for Sept 12, and we were too stunned to attend anything.
    Someday may we'll make it there.

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  12. Interesting how we reclaim our past, even making it more than it was. This was a very nice tour.

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  13. A walk full of history....the church's less than ethical property investments, from the Middle Ages to today, General Haynau, brought back to mind after all these years...the Thrale connection with Dr. Johnson...and all that as well as the new Globe Theatre.

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  14. Wow, thank you for sharing this. So the theater was built identical to the old one no? It looks great. I remember how it looks like from literature books and movies. It must be amazing to be one of the groundlings. And yes I agree about gorgeous costumes.

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  15. Thank you for the tour... I haven't visited the Globe Theatre but always intended to. Last year we did a tour of the renovated Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was wonderful. Backstage was the best to see, not something we would otherwise have seen. All very clever stage management and not something we were allowed to photograph.

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  16. Oh, that Romeo and Juliet story - priceless! thanks for sharing :D
    It made me think a bit too. I bet it amazed the Germans that it was censored, but that is part of learning about foreign cultures. I guess it opened the eyes of some of the local kids too - very hard to explain what a codpiece is I'd have thought! :D

    Mac n Janet, that's a shame, but I hope you make it another time (when it's not raining).

    Yes, Theresa it was a memorable performance but actually quite disconcerting too because you do normally think of him being an out and out baddie, whereas here he came over as alarming and unpredictable and emotional and it made the audience quite uncomfortable too at times. Incredibly neurotic people in positions of power ARE scary I guess...specially when they're only a few feet away from you!

    Yep Dawntreader, there are novels about this, I believe, and even a Richard III society devoted to getting a better researched picture of him out into the world.

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  17. How fascinating! I'm glad that you "groundlings" managed to stay dry, but I would risk getting wet to see a performance of Richard III.

    Incredible as it sounds, there is a life-size replica of the Globe Theater on the Odessa College Campus in Odessa, Texas (of all places!).
    Believe me - - you haven't lived until you've seen Texans trying to perform Shakespearean plays.......

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  18. London is such an interesting city. I've never been to the Globe but hope to make it one day. I read Shakespeare in college and enjoyed it. Got to see Hamlet which was fun:)

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  19. ah so very cool...we have a replica of the playhouse here...and went last year to see a midsummer nights dream....i love this style theatre too where they interact with the audience...lovely architecture as well...

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  20. Jenny,
    I "allowed" my husband to attend the Globe without me last time we were in London, taking in as much theatre as possible! He did in fact get cold and wet, which he doesn't so much mind. On the other hand, I have no tolerance for cold, wet, or standing while watching Shakespeare:)
    Yesterday we attended a wonderful free performance in the Presidio - a great parkland in San Francisco. The weather warmed just enough for the fog to lift and the wind to be quite moderate. Lucky us! S.F. can be freezing in the summer.
    Cheers!

    [aka Bay Area Tendrils]

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  21. That's an amazing theather.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  22. I'll be in london at the end of september, and I'm slowly re-reading your posts about interesting places . BUT through your eyes EVERYTHING is to be seen! Ü so much things on my to-do list , and such a short time to spend in this fabulous town..

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  23. Oh, i am jealous! Even getting soaked would be worth it.

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  24. Great post, Jenny. Thanks for taking us along with you.

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  25. Fascinating post, as always. (I'm a Richard III fan so don't believe half the stories about him. One has to remember that the winners always write the history and the Tudors won so Shakespeare was writing to please them! Some of Richard's laws were most advanced and remarkably sensible for their day.)

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  26. Wonderful post! I was exposed to Shakespeare long before I understood; his work became a life long love. I'm am not quite sure I understand all his work today, but still find it amazing.

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  27. Lovely pictures and very interesting all history that you told us.
    Cheers, Jenny.

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  28. What an enjoyable post....loved the theatre. One more place to visit when I travel to London eventually.
    I would consider it an honour to be a "groundling,' for I'm sure the interaction and ambiance is so different, than the high priced seating.
    We read Shakespeare at school and were shuttled off as a class to view "Romeo & Juliet" at a local theatre when we were preparing for our GCE exams....what memories.
    Jenny thanks for a wonderful read.

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  29. What a great post! We visited the Globe theatre a few years ago when my youngest daughter was six, and she begged us to go on a tour. (She'd just read a book at school about it.) We loved hearing the history behind it, and I hope someday we can return for a performance!

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  30. I've heard of this theatre but this is the first pics I've seen and real pics, real time! What an amazing replica, wonderful job. Jenny how quaint - 'groundlings'!

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  31. London + Shakespeare = unbeatable combination. I'd happily stand in the rain to watch a performance. Well, summer rain, anyway! ^^

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  32. Wow! You do the most exciting and interesting things! That looks amazing! :)

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  33. I loved this, another wonderful 'tour' through time, theatre and history, thank you! I missed Mark Rylance the last two times he played in NY, how lucky you and the family were to see him. I love 'groundlings' - such a great word.

    (I may need to 'pace' myself when dropping by here, your detailed posts make me unexpectedly & *extremely* nostalgic for London! (I am from the States but spent good chunk of past 5, 6 years there)).

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  34. Great pictures of a place I'd love to visit. I think Richard III was one of the most maligned figures in history, along with Cleopatra. Richard didn't have a hump or a withered arm, and he had no reason to kill the little princes. But the future Henry VII certainly did.

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  35. Jenny,
    I like to see Noh play in an open air stage, but it is a very simple wooden stage placed on ground.
    It is interesting in Kabuki, one of Japan's stage arts created in the 17th century, only men perform all roles. Surprising enough, male actors, who play women's roles, are more feminine than real women. Since the 17th century, this tradition has been passed down even though a woman started original Kabuki.
    I enjoy Shakespeare's plays which have intricate plots and surprising twists. But, I feel very sorry for real Richard lll.
    keiko

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  36. I've never seen the theatre myself, somehow I forget about it every time I come to London (my last time now being 6 1/2 years ago). So, thank you for offering such a good look at it!

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  37. What a fab time you had - and I know children may not 'get' every word of Shakespeare, but just being in this theatre was a chance of a lifetime!

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  38. I love the pictures of the Globe, and you described the experience beautifuly.

    I bet you're no longer allowed to p*ss in the straw as the original "groundlings" apparently were.

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  39. What a brilliant post! I'm green with envy, but still hoping to get there one day... Thanks for such a splendid read.

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  40. This is indeed a very brave thing to do with your kids...I have never seen a performance at the Globe theatre, I have just visited it. Well, I suppose I must add it to my To-Do list then!

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  41. Love the beautiful theatre and the costumes! Thanks for such an informative post. I hope someday, I will get to visit it and watch the performances.

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  42. I've never been there so thanks for the tour. Sorry you got wet!

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  43. The Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and performances look wonderful. How lucky you are to cycle around all these layers of history. I would be right there with you in a time machine. But I would skip those animal-baiting pits!

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  44. Wow it was packed wasn't it, I remember our daughters thoroughly enjoying school trips to The Globe. That part of London is a great area to explore nowadays.

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  45. Oh how I would love to have stood next to you and the other groundlings. I'm currently reading "The Kingmaker's Daughter" by Philippa Gregory so Richard III is on my mind.

    Darla

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  46. There would be a lot of tours for you in Southwark. Sometimes I wish I was there, especially when I have no posts!

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  47. I so loved seeing this post! I had only seen the Globe from the outside, but heard it was amazing. While my daughter was in England she went to see Henry V, also as a groundling. One of her favorite actors, Jamie Parker, played the lead and she got a spot front and center. Needless to say, she was thrilled and didn't mind standing the 3 hours at all!

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  48. I'm extremely jealous. I would love to see Rylance, especially at the Globe. As for the children, with any luck they will recall the experience In later years.

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  49. OH man! You were living one of my dreams. I am so delighted to get to share a little bit of the experience here. Thank you.

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  50. Goodness, so as a groundling you have to stand for the whole performance? That could be a bit tiring. I've never been to the Globe, mainly because I'm not that keen on Shakespeare. But I really should go there once, just to sample the decor and the ambience. It was such a brilliant idea to recreate the old Globe.

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  51. I have spent many happy afternoons at The Globe so reading your post and viewing your photos brought back plenty of memories. One of my favourites was Macbeth which was suitably dark with a very unusual staging. I really enjoyed this post, thanks.

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  52. Thank you for showing what's inside of the Globe. I remember the movie "Shakespeare in love". It's surprising to see kids in the audience. I'd like to know how they liked it.
    They must be potential candidates for the Shakespeare's actors.

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  53. Fascinating Jenny. Thanks for this story. We learn about Shakespear in school here but it would be good to see these historic places where the plays were acted out, with music. - Dave

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  54. Can you believe I've never been to The Globe? Inside, that is. It's been on my to-do list for ages!

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  55. You not only risk the weather, you risk thigh cramps if it's one of The Bard's longer tomes! I saw Mark Rylance to The Tempest there several years ago. Still remember it. Fantastic evening out. I sat. Last season I saw Kevin Spacey do Richard III here in New York. Highly enjoyable.

    Jesus, I love London. Wish I was posting this from London right now, in fact.

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  56. oh you are so lucky!!! I would love love to see this...someday. Just thinking about Shakespeare makes me happy!

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  57. It is such fun going to a play in this theatre. I'd like to see some of the modern ones designed the same way to encourage audience participation.

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  58. That is so cool. I don't think we have anything like an open air stage here. Wait, if you count some football stadiums then, yes we have them. No plays just violence and fun!

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  59. What a fabulous post! I had no idea how splendid the plays could be there- As we traveled down the Thames, looking over toward the theater I though - That must be so artificial and touristy...Glad surprise so next time i will make it a destination- for five quid, can't go wrong! Thank you for taking us there!

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  60. Thanks for these brilliant comments! It's interesting that Sam Wanamaker struggled so hard for years to get this project going. Everyone thought he was nuts. And now they all love it and can't get enough of it. (I love stories like that. )

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  61. Amazing!! I'm a devoted Shakespeare fan. I wish I could have been there.

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  62. Hi Jenny, I am so envious! I have been wanting to go visit the old Globe site forever, and how wonderful you were able to see Richard III in the re-created Globe. Back in my uni days, I did visit Stratford-Upon-Avon and got to see Troilus and Cressida. Unfortunately, that wasn't what I had been hoping to see but that was all they were playing that day! Not being familiar with the play, I barely understood it. (I still haven't read T&C despite having read and re-read many of the Bard's other works, so I probably never will understand it.) A good friend of ours, who runs the Philosophy Library at a university in Southern Cal, says I should just get over it. It's not his best work anyway!

    I like how they kept to the old Elizabethan traditions of having the female characters played by young males! (I wonder now if they let children play children back then too.) It must have doubled or tripled the pleasure back in those days to see a young man play a woman who pretends to be a man in so many of Shakespeare's comedies.

    Anyhow, we missed the local Shakespeare-in-the-park productions this summer due to scheduling conflicts. But I had good intentions of attending when summer began. You are obviously not as flaky as we are!

    Jenny

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  63. I was just checking to see what comment I made on this post and couldn't find it and was puzzled. I read the post whilst I was away so why didn't I comment? Then I remembered. It was a wonderful example of ARADD (Age Related Attention Deficit Disorder). I decided to go and refresh my memory on Richard III because I hadn't read it for possibly about 50 years and as a period in history I was woefully lacking. I wandered off for ages into the topic and came to no firm opinions but never came back to the post either. Well now I have. As far as The Globe is concerned I have to say that I rather like to watch my theatre in comfort these days. Atmosphere is all very well but.......

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