"Merrily, Merrily, shall I live now" A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe. (Shakespeare' s Globe Theatre in general)

Member Name: jammaker49

Product:	Shakespeare' s Globe Theatre in general
Date:	30/06/02 (1574 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Experience theatre as it was in the past., Support English Heritage, Enjoy Shakespeare

Disadvantages: You won't be sitting in comfort!

When my daughter told me, earlier in the year, that A Midsummer Night’s Dream was one of the plays being produced at the Globe Theatre in London this year, to book tickets was a must. When she told me a few days later that there was to be a Midsummer Night’s performance at midnight, well, there was just no other date that we could book was there?

Even though it had only just been announced that this performance was going to take place, tickets were in short supply. We managed to acquire two in the lower stand, on one side of the stage. We had a restricted view, but what the hell! To see A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Midsummer’s night beginning at midnight, I think I’d have even gone as a Groundling again!

Apparently they attempted to put on a midnight matinee last year, when Macbeth was playing, but had to cancel, due to lack of support. Not so this year. It was a sell-out very soon after the tickets went on sale. The thought of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Midsummer’s night beginning at midnight certainly appealed to a lot of people!

Walking along Bankside from London Bridge, you get a very different view of the river from the daytime one. St. Paul’s Cathedral looms large on the opposite bank, and all the bridges are lit. Although it’s a walk through old streets and tunnels under the bridges, we both commented on how you felt safe there, even when passing the old Clink Museum!

On arriving at the Globe, the previous performance was just finishing, and seemed to be getting rapturous applause. We wandered around the Globe shop, then sat down outside, watching the river, until it was time for the doors to open and let us in.

For anyone who has never been to the Globe, it has been recreated to be as near as possible to how it was in Shakespeare’s day. Therefore it is advisable to either take or hire a cushion to sit on! The benches are not very comfortable! It is

also open-air, and the show does not stop for rain! Umbrellas are not allowed, so if you are watching from the Yard, be prepared! The same goes for if the sun is shining too! There is very little shade.

At 11.59 precisely, the musicians came out, followed closely by all the cast, dressed in pyjamas, nightshirts and dressing gowns! Well most of it does take place at night!

I will put the cast here next, as it will make the rest of the op somewhat easier to follow. Several characters doubled up, but as I will show later, it was easy to follow who was who.

Geraldine Alexander (Hippolyta/Titania)
Louise Bush (Helena/Fairy)
Keith Dunphy (Demetrius)
Ryan Early (Starveling (Moonshine)/First Fairy)
Paul Higgins (Theseus/Oberon)
Richard Katz (Lysander/Fairy)
Patrick Lennox (Snout (Wall)/Fairy)
Gary Lilburn (Egeus/Fairy)
John Ramm (Bottom/Fairy)
Philippa Stanton (Hermia/Fairy)
Simon Trinder (Puck/Philostrate)
Paul Trussell (Peter Quince/Fairy)
Jem Wall (Snug (Lion)/Fairy)

THE PLAY

I don’t intend giving the full story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream here. Suffice to say it is a play within a play. It is set in Athens, where young girls were expected to obey their fathers’ wishes regarding marriage partners, with the death penalty, or a Nunnery for disobedience! Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, has been promised to Demetrius with whom Helena is infatuated. Hermia and Lysander decide to run away, followed by Demetrius, who in turn is pursued by Helena. They find themselves in a magical forest, where Oberon, the Fairy King, is in dispute with Titania, the Fairy Queen, and he decides that the balance of the forest has been upset. He sends his trusty servant, Puck, on a mission to redress the balance. Puck gets things base upwards, and the fun starts!

Also in the forest is a band of would-be actors, who have chosen the dead of night to practice their p
lay,
in the hope of being chosen to perform at the forthcoming wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta in Athens. Needless to say, the players get caught up in the magical happenings, with hilarious consequences!

As you can see from the cast list, several of the actors played more than one part, and yet the way it was done prevented any confusion, in spite of there being no costume changes and very few props. All the players were dressed in nightwear of one form or another, and when the cast changed from being people into being fairies, they simply lit up chains of fairy lights which hung around their necks, and turned them off when they became people again. Simple, but very effective.

THE PLAYERS.

People who perform in Shakespeare’s plays are known as players, rather than actors. The casts in productions performed at the Globe are traditionally drawn from little known, or totally unknown players. This particular cast was made up from a real Heinz variety of accents. There were Cockney accents, Irish accents, Scottish and Yorkshire, as well as Queen’s English, and yet the whole thing worked.

Puck was played by the impish looking Simon Trinder (Yorkshire accent), who pranced and danced across the stage, bringing to life the mischief-maker, just as Shakespeare must have intended him to be.

Helena, portrayed by Louise Bush (Queen’s English) was as annoying as annoying can be. She came across as being slightly simple as well as somewhat irritating. If you are in any way familiar with the play, then I think you will agree that this is exactly how the writer meant her to be played.

Philippa Stanton played Hermia brilliantly. I think the highlight for me was the part where Helena refers to Hermia as “dwarfish”. Philippa must have been around 5 feet tall, which made this scene really come to life!

John Ramm’s performance as Bottom the Weaver was perhaps the best performance o
f all. Sev
eral times I nearly fell off my rather precarious seat, I was laughing so much. In fact at one point, my daughter told me to shush! Easier said than done!

The other player that remains in my memory was Ryan Early, playing Moonshine. A more morose figure you could not wish to see, which made it all the funnier to see him holding up a lamp which looked like a toilet brush holder, dangling a fluffy dog on a string, and almost going for Theseus (Paul Higgins) in the final scene.

That final scene, the performance by the townsfolk of Pyramus and Thisbe at the wedding of Theseus and Hyppolyta, has to be the most hilarious thing I have seen in ages. Picture the wall (played by Patrick Lennox) with a plaster cast on his arm and hand to form the “chink” through which the lovers whispered, a lion with a bathroom mat around his face to represent his mane, and the moronic moonshine, and you can only go a tiny way to seeing the hilarity. At almost 3 a.m. in the morning, I wouldn’t have wanted to be living in the luxury flats close to the Globe! The squeals of mirth were enough to wake anybody up!

Needless to say, when the play ended the players were given several standing ovations. They had performed this play twice that night, it was 3 a.m. and they were still going strong.

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?

Well I can’t recommend that you go to a midnight matinee, because there was only one, and I was at it! After all, A Midsummer Night’s Dream on any other night than Midsummer’s Night just wouldn’t be the same would it?

However, if you get the chance to go and see this play at the Globe, then I would say take that chance. Simply being at the Globe, watching a play written by William Shakespeare himself is a real experience. To see this play, especially if it is your first time at a Shakespeare play, is well worth booking.

We had seats from which to view, but the rea
l experience at
the Globe is to go as a Groundling for your first viewing. Groundlings stand in the Yard, some even leaning on the stage, and the players really perform to this audience. We’ve been as Groundlings, last year, when Macbeth was showing, and we also experienced the same play from the top gallery. You definitely do not get the full atmosphere from up there. If you really cannot face standing for 3 hours (with a 20 minute interval), and having done it, I can tell you, it hurts, then try and book seats in the lower gallery, on a level with the Groundlings. You will be a bit further away from the stage than if you stand, but you do get more of the atmosphere than up on high.

PRICES

Prices range from £5.00 to be a Groundling, to around £27.00 for the best seats, those with an unrestricted view. We paid £12.00 for the seats we had, to the right of the stage. We could see most of what was going on, but our view was somewhat restricted by the huge stage pillar that holds up the “heavens”. Pre-booking is a must. Don’t expect to simply turn up and get tickets, as they sell out very quickly. Groundling tickets are probably the only ones you would be able to buy on the night, unless there are any returns. And even these are sold out for some performances.

ME ON MY SOAP BOX

Shakespeare is one of, if not THE most famous of English playwrights. It took an American to rebuild the Globe, just a short distance from the site of the original. We have noticed that the majority of the audience, on each occasion we have been to a play there, are not English. We have such a rich heritage, and yet we don’t seem to support it as others who visit us do.

The Globe Theatre should be a must for anyone remotely interested in English history. It isn’t expensive, and everyone I’ve spoken to who has been there, wants to return.

Support our Heritage. Be proud of it. Go on. Go and se
e A Midsummer Night&
#8217;s Dream. I will certainly go again, if I can get tickets!

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