Lily of the Field: All the World's a Stage...

Today, we went to the reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to see a performance of As You Like It. I loved the way that the building looked. It made me feel as though I was actually in 1600s England, even if I was surrounded by modern people and modern buildings. Apparently, the plaster in the building was made using cashmere fur because cow's hair, which was used in the original building, is no longer readily available. I also learned that the entire building is held together by wooden plates and is therefore completely able to to dismatled and moved. In fact, I learned that the original building was actually taken apart and hid from the first landlord while the landlord was on Christmas holiday after the landlord decided not to renew the theatre's lease but tried to keep to the building. It was then reconstructed across the river after a long court battle. I love stories like that. I mean HOW do you steal a building? Really??

the exterior of the Globe

The performance was hands down the best Shakespearian performance that I've ever seen. Even though the theatre holds 1,600 people, it feels like all the seats are right on top of the stage, so we could see the actors really well. We sat in the second balcony on the right side of the stage, the place where, in the Elizabethan era, the middle class people would have sat and we could see and hear everything perfectly. It was wonderfully delightful...the expressions, the comic timing, the music, the use of the stage...all of it was perfect. The moved freely on and off the stage, in the audience, simply anywhere that suited their purposes, interacting with the audience all the while. SO MUCH FUN!