Some of you may not know that I love Shakespeare. Freshman year of college I wrote a paper called "The Man Behind the Myth" discussing the heated debate of whether or not Shakespeare was actually the author of all of the beloved plays.
Anyway, for our British Life and Culture class today, we took a field trip to the Globe Theater. It is right next to the Tate Modern Museum and across the Millennium Bridge from St. Paul's Cathedral. I was beyond excited to see the theater even though it is a remodel of the older one, which was up the river a bit before it was destroyed hundreds of years ago.
In front of the stage!
Stage
Some fun facts I learned today:
Shakespeare was absolutely LOADED and so were the actors that worked in his company
I am now convinced that it was actually Shakespeare who wrote all of the plays and sonnets
The Shakespeare actors performed a new play almost everyday and only had the night after the show to memorize their lines, then about 4 hours to practice the play before it was put on the next morning.
The performances were at 2 PM everyday because they had no lighting in the evenings
The globe which now holds around 2000 people comfortably, held 3000 during Shakespeare's time, making it more like a rock concert/mosh pit than a polite theater going experience
The actors had scrolls they read from that only had their lines on it. The scroll was a ROLL of paper, thus creating the term "role" in a show. The only other lines were their queue lines, which were three words and the actors didn't know who's lines they were or how much happened before their next talking part.
Along with the word "role," the phrase "part" in a show came to existence because "parts" create a "whole show"
The audience would put their pence (money) for their tickets in a box at the front of the theater. Where did they keep the box? At the BOX OFFICE, duh.
Overall, it was an amazing tour. Our tour guide was phenomenal and had all of us cracking up. Too bad the season is already over, I would have loved to see a Shakespeare show at the Globe Theater.
On our walk back in front of St. Paul's Cathedral on the Thames River
Other than the excruciating International Trade final I had in the afternoon, today was a wonderful day. Considering I've only gotten 10 hours of sleep in the past two days, I will be sleeping for the next 39 hours. Just kidding, I'm going to Hampton Court tomorrow which is the palace King Henry VIII hung out when he wasn't at the Tower of London.
King Henry VIII Armor
ANOTHER FUN FACT: When Sari and I went to the Tower of London we saw a lot of the armor the old kings and soldiers used to wear. King Henry VIII armor had a HUGE metal bulge in his man-region. We just laughed and said, "of course he would have done that to prove his manliness." Turns out that metal bulge was there because he had Syphilis and his penile region was extremely sensitive, so he had special armor made. It ended up becoming the fashionable armor during his time. Funny stuff.
I will leave you with some good Shakespeare quotes.
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many acts, his acts being seven ages."
As You Like It
"As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with worlds."
Two Gentleman of Verona
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come"
Julius Caesar
"Friendship is constant in all other things
Save in the office and affairs of love;
Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues;
Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent."
Much Ado About Nothing
Cheers!
Miriam