The Globe Theater: an 11-year-old's view

As a slight tangent from my current topic of Shakespeare's feminine audience, I wanted to share these photos from my trip to London in 2001. When I was younger, I was part of a violin group that traveled abroad and that year we went to England. As part of our stay in London, we toured Shakespeare's Globe Theater, which I remember as an 11-year-old as boring and a waste of time. Now, however, I wish that I'd been able to appreciate the unique experience that I had. We unfortunately weren't able to see a performance there, but the tour was still interesting and I have some great photos to show how Shakespeare's plays must have been seen from an Elizabethan audience.

I know some of our classmates have taken their own looks at the Globe (like Laura), but I thought it would be fun to share my own personal experience with the restored theater.

Entering the Globe's lower gallery (that's my mom in the black and white)

This photo really shows how the stage is thrust out into the theater.
This is what allowed the players to interact so muchwith the audience.

Here is a good view of the different types of viewing a play. Standing room
was for the lower classes, while the more wealthy could afford a seat.

The stage is really quite beautiful. I don't know how accurate the reconstruction is,
but I'm sure the players would have loved having a stage like this one.
(P.S. I'm the one in the dorky hat on the right).

My two older brothers posing for the camera. I never realized how
high the stage was, since my oldest brother is a good six feet tall.

My mom, younger sisters, and I tried out the benches in the higher priced ticket areas.
Still doesn't look that comfortable. I think I would've rather stood.

A bust in honor of Shakespeare

I hope you didn't mind my short trip down memory lane, but I just wanted to share some of my earliest memories of the Bard. I would love to go back here sometime and see a performance, especially now that I've become so much more familiar with his work.