We are spoiled for choice in London when it comes to live theatre but to date we’ve only really been to musicals. We had meant to go to see a “real” play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre a lot sooner but always found an excuse to get around to it later. Knowing we won’t be here forever we finally managed to book tickets to tick off another item on our 100 Things List:

66. See a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre

Shakespeare’s Globe is not the original (I was a little sad to find that out). The historic original version was built in 1599 then it burnt down then it was rebuilt and then they demolished it again (in 1644). The more modern version we were heading to was based on historic evidence and opened in 1997.

There were a few good improvements over the 1599 version of the building. The first one was that we could hire cushions and the second was that we could buy yummy snacks and drinks. Although maybe they had both of those back in 1599.

Despite the building being relatively new, it still felt like we were being transported back in time when we walked in and were ushered up the stairs to find our seats. That feeling of being transported back in time and experiencing something so close to how people did over 400 years ago was exactly why we had this on our 100 Things List.

We were hoping to see a classic play that we knew but found all the one’s that we had studied at school or knew well were sold out. I managed to find tickets available for ‘As You Like It’ and once we realised it was a comedy we were happy to book it in.

We aren’t the most err…cultured people and are much more likely to be caught at a Rock of Ages musical rather than Shakespeare so we were worried we would get a little lost on the storyline and not know what was going on. To our pleasant surprise we kept up fine and the great acting and well paced play was easy to follow.

We also got to hear one of Shakespeare’s famous monologues: “All The World’s A Stage”

The actors were hilarious and managed to skilfully build in some interaction with the audience as they entered or exited the stage through the Yard. It would be almost worth standing for 3 hours to be right there in the crowd and be able to be next to the actors as they delivered their lines. We get sore legs though.

Sit or Stand

The bulk of the audience at the Globe Theatre are standing up rather than being lazy like us and sitting down. These standing tickets don’t sell out nearly as quickly as the seated one’s and arguably give the best view of the stage since you can find yourself literally resting your arms on the stage looking up at the actors.

The actors play up to the crowd and interact with the people around them (half the laughter at times was because of the uncomfortable audience member’s reaction to the actor’s intense questioning being aimed at them). The price is quite a lot cheaper (£5 vs up to £43 for seats) so there are definitely some convincing reasons to opt for standing tickets.

But we’re lazy and couldn’t imagine standing for 3 hours. I’d need a walking frame after an hour I think. That in mind we opted for the slightly more expensive seated option complete with £1 cushion hire (the wooden seats are authentically hard and uncomfortable on their own apparently).

Our seats turned out to be pretty amazing. The poles holding up the stage get in the way a bit (a problem from wherever you sit or stand) but the actors are great at moving around the stage so that they’re only ever out of your sight for a second or two.

So was Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre worthy of being on our bucket list?

Yes! We love live theatre and it was a great experience to see some of the best actors in the world performing the greatest playwright’s work in a theatre built to replicate the one the same play was performed in over 400 years ago. It wasn’t the most adventurous item on our list but I’m definitely glad we ticked it off.