Today was definitely a more exciting and interesting day than I had originally decided it was going to be. Once again I did my best to stuff myself with fruit and toast at breakfast, so that I wouldn't have to spend my precious money on lunch! We then had a quick class discussion about the various places everybody had visited over their free weekends! There were experiences ranging from Piccadelli Circus, to soccer games, to dungeons, and even Paris!! Oh, the endless things there are to do in London!

I wasn't exactly excited to visit the Globe Theatre today, as I haven't studied a lot of Shakespeare, and I thought I had already received a good dose of the man and his work in Stratford. However, to my surprise, this tour was quite inspiring, and I think I just may have a new found love and appreciation for these plays! When we arrived at The Globe the first thing I saw was a big sign that read, "All the World's a Stage". How fitting!! As our guide pointed out, the theatre is not the original; however, the reconstruction has been done so that it is as close to the original as possible with the exception of some significant differences. The original floor of The Globe was made of mud and hazelnut shells. Obviously these were uncomfortable to stand on and made a mess during bad weather, as the theatre is all open air, so the new Globe has a concrete floor. Also, the present building has more exits and wider staircases due to safety regulations. The building is entirely constructed of wood, and the seating area is covered by thatch roof, therefore a major fire hazard! The original Globe could hold 3,000 people in the same amount of space that the new Globe can hold only 1,500 people!

The Globe Theatre, London

The stage has some important symbolisms representing the earth, as the set never changes. The roof of the stage is painted blue with angels and clouds, representing the heavens. In the floor, there is a trap door in which one can descend into hell. The audience plays a big part in Shakespeare's plays, as the farthest audience member is only 50 feet away from the center of the stage! There are also lights present throughout the row as of seats so that audience members are able to interact with one another, as well as the actors. How different it is compared to modern theatre, where you sit in darkness and focus only on the spotlight! Our guide made an interesting comparison about this when he said, "Theatre is either like church or like baseball".

Our guide gave us an interesting lecture about the context of Shakespeare's plays so that we would better understand how creative that they actually were! Actors today are allowed six weeks of rehearsal time before a performance. In Shakespeare's time, a different play was performed each day, so actors had a maximum time of three hours to rehearse before a performance! Before a performance, each actor received a scroll with only their lines and cues. Cues consisted of three words spoken by another character, which was unidentified on the scroll!! No stage directions were written on the scroll, so actors had to listen carefully to eachother's lines to know where to go, what to do, and even what emotions they were supposed to show! How confusing! I think I would have been so focused on listening for my cue that I wouldn't have any idea how to act! Obviously it was a real talent to be an actor in those days. Plays were almost improvised!

I also thought it was amazing that no visuals were used in these plays. There were all left to the imagination. It makes perfect sense why everything in Shakespeare's writing is so descriptive! These plays are definitely meant to be heard and not read.

After the Globe, we wandered next door to the Tate Modern art museum. The first display we saw was a huge circle of light hanging form the ceiling, which was made of mirrors. It almost looked like the sun setting over a calm lake, but upside down. It reflected off the mirrors to form a complete circle, and the mirrors vibrated just enough to make it look like there were ripples!

I wasn't rally intrigued by many of the exhibits in the museum, as art hasn't always been my passion. However, I did enjoy seeing some of the puzzling Picasso paintings, as well as the beautiful "Water-lillies" painting by Monet. Cornelia Parker had a neat display called "Cold Dark Matter", which was her attempt to reconstruct a garden shed exploding. One final exhibit that I enjoyed was "A Dozen Roses", by Keith Edmier. This was simply twelve red roses with red stems and leaves, tied together by a red ribbon. The roses were supposed to be carried by Jackie Kennedy after her husband's assassination. They were flowers frozen in time to symbolize love and mortality.

Tonight we say a performance of the absurdist play, "Betrayal", at the Duchess Theatre. It was very different, and I'm not quite sure how to react to it. It can't decide if I liked it or if I didn't like it! First of all, the theatre had a very different feel than previous theatres we have been in. It felt kind of like I was waiting to see a show at the Imax. All of the seats were right on top of eachother, and the stage was very close to the audience. The actors were great, and I like how the play was designed to make you pay attention to details and think backwards. I guess what turned me off most about the play was simply the topic and the fact that there was no resolution. It was incredibly depressing! One man's best friend betraying him by secretly having an affair with his wife, not to mention that he is married as well! The play is full of secrets and lies! It makes you never want to trust anyone!

The play was fairly short, so we all decide to check out the clubs in London! We walked in the rain for what seemed like an hour until we finally found the Sports Café in Leicester Square. It was packed!! Everyone was watching the soccer game and ordering their special 1£ drinks. It was so much fun, and a great way to end our long day!!