January 24th 2006 - "Theatre Day" - The Globe, Phantom, and Sejanus

Page by Amy Moenning

Today we went to Shakespeare’s Globe as a class, and though the rest of the class was walking, Anne, Britta, Cara, Maggie, Jess, and I decided we’d rather squeeze more value out of our beloved Oyster cards, and took the tube. We then followed the orange lamp posts to the Globe from the tube. I’m not sure we actually saved ourselves any effort by taking the tube, but we got there on time. At eleven o’clock we met our charming guide Trevor and it was very cold outside as we began our tour!

Photo: The Globe! (more information)

Trevor explained to us that this reconstruction and representation of the theatre is as close to the original Globe (built in Shakespeare’s day circa 1599) as they could get, which I respect. There were two versions of the Globe during his lifetime, and they chose to reconstruct the one that he would have had the most experience with – the version he half-owned, wrote for, and acted in. The second one was built in 1613 after a fire, and Trevor said that there is good evidence that he actually retired around this time.

We all had a good laugh about the building though, because its actual design is one HUGE guess! Apparently the only picture they had of the original globe was a very small engraving of the bank of the Thames from 1630 – not exactly what you would call accurate! The inside was also a huge guess, but it is based on a copy of a sketch of the Swan. So not an original drawing, or of the right theatre for that matter! They did, however, know the correct dimensions of the theatre because the original archeological site of the Globe was discovered about 200 yards away about 15 years ago when they wanted to build a parking lot there. So they know it was a 20 sided building.

It was situated across the Thames away from where the people lived in London (apparently Southwark on this side of the river was reserved for liars, prostitutes, and gamblers – a good place for actors, who are clearly all liars) and so when there was a play, they would advertise for it by flying a huge flag overhead, and the people would rush over, sometimes straight across the frozen ice. I don’t know if I’d be comfortable just trotting across the river no matter how frozen it is. The Thames was very clearly not frozen today, because the temperatures are not as extreme anymore, and the river is more deep and wide. I thought it was weird that they used to tack up lists of diseases and how many people had died from them, just so you’d know what you were risking coming to the playhouse.

Inside the theatre (which was still cold) Trevor told us more about acting and putting on a play in this unique theatre. In Shakespeare’s day all the plays were at 2:00 pm, (so they had afternoon light) rain or shine. Today there is electrical lighting, but only to recreate daylight for evening performances, as modern audiences are more accustomed to evening shows than matinees.

It seems hard to deal with all the distractions and things that interfere with performances in the outdoor setup of the Globe:

• Helicopters hovering
• Planes overhead
• BAD weather
• The noise of plastic rain jackets
• Pigeons! Dive-bombing!

But I was pleased to hear that sometimes actors work glitches like this into their performance, which is what is so cool about theatre. It can adapt and it’s fresh and different every time you see it. One time an actor addressed a distracting pigeon, much to the chagrin of the visiting critics. It’s all part of the experience!

One thing that really surprised me was what he said bout clothes and costumes in that time! The Elizabethans hated the sun (this I knew; I’d fit in so well then pale as I am!) because it faded their clothes at an alarming rate, and this is a huge deal when a woolen skirt would have cost the equivalent of 6,000 pounds! I never thought about how expensive the costuming for the shows would have been. Shocking to think they would have cost more than the entire theater!

As a result, you’d obviously want to keep the actors and their expensive costumes out of the sun (which is why the roof is over the stage) and away from the hoi polloi (hence the pointy spikes, which I’ll get to in a minute).

I thought it was really cool that they tried to keep the structure and building materials as original as possible so as to be as authentic as possible, not change the acoustics, even if it does seem an awful expense to use cashmere in the lime plaster walls!

I was amazed to think that there’s a chance that the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet might not have been on a balcony at all! Apparently it’s not terribly feasible with the live band on the balcony in the way.

Also weird - The rich and famous wanted the seats with terrible views, but were close to the actors: “Let’s go hear a play.” So they’d sit all the way on the sides, or even in the balcony onstage! Amazing how things have changed. I was shocked to learn that if a lord was late, and sitting in the balcony, he’d be really conspicuous (possibly on purpose) coming in, and the actors would stop, greet him, and then start over to catch him up! That would never happen today. What a division existed between the peasants and the upper class in the playhouse. The poor watched from the yard, kept away from the stage and the rich by metal spikes along the stage and back. Yikes. To be fair, the “groundlings” did smell, as they only had one set of clothes and rarely bathed. Elizabethans had a bad attitude towards water: “I have a bath every month whether I need one or not” said Queen Elizabeth. Ack! How could you NOT need one? I bet she, and her subjects, were very pungent people.

The Globe seems kind of small, but Trevor said that they guess it could have held about 3,000 people! Of course today that’s not possible. Fire regulations spoil all the fun.

Then we went “backstage” to the attiring room, and peeked through the grills to look onstage. When on the stage, Trevor explained about the ceiling being heaven, and the trap doors being hell. Too bad I’m not scared of witches like people in the 1600s.

In the WARM room Trevor told us about acting, and being an actor at that time, which would shock and appall actors today. You’d have to rehearse in the morning, and you’d only be given information about the play on a need-to-know basis to avoid copying and stealing.

So you’d have your 3 word cue, and then your line, and that’s all! I can’t imagine. No, actually I can, because to demonstrate how this worked we rehearsed a scene from Julius Caesar as a class in this manner. No room for ad libbing or messing up lines! Though if you did, you could just have the prompter give you your lines, or you could just start part of a scene over, and apparently this was NO big deal!

It’s funny to think that actors had to just do as they heard, as Andrew demonstrated in “here is a friar who trembles, sighs, and weeps!” haha. And how hard would it have been with Shakespeare always inventing words? This was fun. I was moved when Jess and Allie acted out Romeo and Juliet, respectively. I felt the love in their holy palmer’s kiss. Way to be girls.

Just for the record, I would LOVE to see actors perform a jig at a curtain call. Apparently this was the style back in the day, and I see absolutely no reason why this tradition was not continued. How hilarious.

After eyeing a few things in the gift shop (I eventually picked up one of those tiny books- I got The Merchant of Venice), Britta, Cara, Maggie, Allie, Steven, and I decided to make our way over to Piccadilly Circus for lunch and PHANTOM! We split from the class (a lot of whom went to the Tate that afternoon) and took the tube over. When it came down to it, we ended up just eating at a convenience store we had eaten at another day. Cara was excited to relive the glory of her Chicken Tika thing, and I got the closest thing to a pasty they offered.

At 2pm we took our seats to see The Phantom of the Opera at Her Magesty’s theatre, and I’m not going to lie, it was the highlight of the day.

I was worried about the cast, but was really pleased with everyone. I think Rachel Barrell really held her own as Christine. But I was most impressed with Raoul’s voice, which is strange because I usually don’t care too much for him. His timing was impeccable.

A lot of us teared up, especially at the end – so intense. Britta got the little 50p binoculars so that we could really inspect the Phantom’s unmasked face. Way better than the movie, totally grotesque and gory.

Then we needed some dinner before Sejanus, but we had quite a bit of time. So we walked Trafalgar Square. Cara and I had difficulties finding a loo anywhere in the area. Europe is stingy with the public restrooms. But anyway, we stopped into a bookshop, had a delightful time perusing books, and then decided to splurge and go to an actual restaurant for dinner. What a GOOD CHOICE. We had a fantastic meal at Garfunkel’s (which we decided was not named for Art Garfunkel considering the paintings of British Navy generals all over the place). Maggie and Allie split a huge monstrous BOAT of food, and I was thoroughly impressed when they finished it.

Now, I think I can safely speak for a large portion of the class when I say Sejanus: His Fall was not our favorite play. It was a maze of hallway trying to get to our seats, and this seemed wrong. We joked that we were going to come out and accidentally be onstage, and so we were very amused when we actually were led onstage a little bit and had to walk to our seats. Haha. The seats were good, though I hear some people got a little spit on. Okay. The acting. Livia twitching was, well done as acting I guess, but I couldn’t watch her for more than a few minutes before it became exhausting. Calm Down! Sejanus was the one that probably stood out to most though. William Houston decided to play him in a way I wouldn’t have envisioned Sejanus like while I was reading. At first I thought it worked, and it was an interesting take on the character, but by the second half it was just driving me crazy. He decided to play him really crazed. He was power drunk and had a really crazed fervor about hi, and his eyes were always bulging. I expected him to break into maniacal laughter the whole play. But then again, maybe he had lead poisoning; Rome did have lead pipes. By the second half I wanted to shout “Chill Out Sejanus!” Macro is kind of sadistic and creepy, but his calm and serious (albeit evil) demeanor was a welcome change from the insanity of Sejanus. The contrast between them was really stark, which was cool.

The play was really in-your-face. Between the poisoning of Drusus with the vomiting and bleeding out the ears, to the extreme sex scene with Sejanus, to Silius’s suicide, to the part where Macro slices Sejanus’s nose – all very graphic. I think it was good to show the lengths these men will go for power, but still. Silius’s suicide really moved me, and I kind of wanted to cry. The scene is so intense and so sad. I felt a similar sympathetic connection with Aggripina, the wife of the dead Germanicus, who now has to worry about the welfare of her sons Nero and Caligula: “Where are my sons? Must they be shot at?” You really got the sense that she realizes the danger of her situation and doesn’t think nobility is worth it. My favorite character though was the wise, sarcastic, (and kind of a boozehound) Arruntius. He was always commenting on the realities of the situation. He was great.

More Information on Sejanus

Right: William Houston as Sejanus courtesy of London Theatre Guide)

Back at the hotel, Anne, Cara, Britta, and I hung out in room 528. We had a journal party, but inevitably didn’t get much done because we laugh too much, which is not conducive to a good working environment. But it’s still fun.

It had been a really long day. Between the Globe, Phantom, and Sejanus, it was pretty much an entirely theatre packed day!