I had the most amazing day so far of my trip on Friday. We toured the Globe, and it was incredible. The tour guide first took us to the sites of the Hope and Rose theatres, competitors of the Globe. The Rose was discovered when new construction was about to take place in the 90s. After a serious effort to save it by celebrities, historians, and archaeologists, the city made a compromise. They allowed the building to be built several stories higher so that the Rose could continue to be studied in the basement. It is underwater, and it is the best preserved Elizabethan theatre that has ever been found. Another interesting tidbit: there are no recorded instances of Queen Elizabeth I ever going to a Shakespeare play, but she attended a lot of bear baiting, another popular recreation in Bankside. A bear would be placed in a cage with a lot of dogs, and bets would be placed on how many dogs would die, would the bear survive, etc. The Rose may have garnered its name as an ironic statement because it was the worst-smelling place in London. It is also thought by some scholars that Shakespeare's line from Romeo and Juliet, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" may be a gibe at the Rose theatre. When the modern Globe theatre (pictured above) was being built, it was unknown where the original had stood. They did discover the original site, and the guide took us there as well. It was incredible because he said, "This is the place where the English language was shaped and changed forever."
We then took our tour of the Globe, which I had visited twice previous to see All's Well that Ends Well and As You Like It. They were both fantastic comedies, but I still wanted to see my favorite Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing. The guide told us that it was a blessing and a curse that we were touring during a tech rehearsal for my favorite play! We were not allowed to take pictures, but we were allowed to watch the play in working progress. Leonato was played by the man who plays Geoffrey in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. How amazing is that? Beatrice was played by Eve West, and she was phenomenal. She performed one of my favorite scenes while we were there. It was a speech about how she never wished to marry a man unless God made men of something other than human. She directed her acting to us, and even pointed at some of the students. It was just like Shakespeare would have wanted it. I loved every minute of it. It was absolutely magical. We are going to go see Much Ado About Nothing at the end of this month, and we have gallery tickets. I am so excited. It is the event I am looking forward to the most.
P.S. I included Platform 9 and 3/4 for anyone who interested. :)
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