On Monday night we went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Globe. We were groundlings, and were standing about a metre from the edge of the stage. I really enjoyed the performance. The actor playing Demetrius had just picked up the role, as the original was injured, but he did an amazing job, with script in hand he had such a contagious energy and a great relationship with those on-stage.
My favourites would have to be Helena, Puck and all the Mechanicals. I was crying with laughter during the ‘play within a play’. Although it was raining, I was jet-lagged and I was standing for 2hours – I loved it, and would see it again without a doubt.
It was also great to see it performed on the Globe. The way you move on the Globe is different to that on a coventional procenium arch stage. They used the space really well, moved well within the levels, and also diagonals. The diagonals ensure that all the audience gets some attention from the characters.
The beginning. 21 young, enthusiastic Shakespeare lovers left New Zealand on July 4th. We arrived in London bright and early on Sunday morning.
First thing on the agenda was a tour of London. Although very early in the morning, and rather tired and looking worse for wear, this was a great introduction to London. We saw St Pauls, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster, Buckingham Palace within 4hours.
Due to complications with the check-in time to the hostel, we had the afternoon to look around Southwark. We were walking down a street when someone said “oh look, that’s the Globe”. I was a little confused, because all I can see was a brick building. As we rounded the corner a round, white building came into sight. There really are no words to describe what it was like to be 50m away from a building that I have been learning about all during high school. A combination of utter excitement, bewilderment and the intimidating sense of history resulted in a goofy smile and several moments of staring.
OK, our first day at Shakespeare’s Globe was pretty full on. First up was a movement class with Glyn Macdonald. She is incredible. We all discussed what we wanted to work on with our movement and bodies. Glyn put it very nicely – our bodies are instruments and Glyn is there to help us tune our instruments. We did several exercises that engaged both sides of the brain and body. One other exercise that we did was galloping. Galloping is a physical way of demonstrating the rhythm that much of Shakespeare’s verse is written in, iambic pentameter. It was a really good way to connect the text and the rhythm, using the galloping meant it was connected through the body memory.
After Glyn’s workshop we met with our director Colin Hurley. He is a seasoned Globe actor and is a lovely character. After all the introductions, Colin took us for a tour around the Globe. It was pretty amazing, it takes a while to get used to being in a rounded theatre, all the different galleries have different views – a very special place to work in.
The time has finally arrived for me to begin my blog.
My name is Fran Olds and I am a member of Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand Young Shakespeare Company 2008. We have the blessed opportunity to spend several weeks in England, studying with the masters at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.
Will keep everyone updated with all the excitement of walking Shakespeare’s backyard.
