London and Shakespeare

[Miss Marple]

We'll be in England in April and I thought it might be nice to see a Shakespeare play. I thought that the Globe would be the best but wonder if there is a better theater. Also which play would you recommend that wouldn't be too racy...we did enjoy The Taming of the Shrew.

 

If you have been to a performance is it really worth the time and money? This would be the main reason to go to London. We will be in other parts of England which we haven't seen. We were in London about 7 years ago so it's not our main focus this time.

 

We will be taking ds2 to Capernwray Bible School which is north of Liverpool outside of Carnforth. If you have some suggestions of great places to visit I'd love to hear them. We are thinking about going to Dublin for a couple days as well.

 

Tia

[Laura Corin]

I haven't seen a production there yet, but the tours of the building are good too.

 

You'll have to see what is playing this year. The Globe season information is here. I'd probably choose As You Like It from that list, but of course I don't know what the production will be like. I don't know when the season begins - the theatre is open to the elements, so they only play in the better weather. If you don't go to see a play, do visit the theatre.

 

Other places to look for Shakespeare are The Royal National Theatre (in London) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford and London). Another fun option in the summer is Shakespeare in Regent's Park, but I don't think the season has started in April.

 

Is it worth it? It depends what you see and what you normally have access to at home. I took Calvin to see Rory Kinnear in Hamlet at the National last year: it was an experience which really inspired him. We are going to see Derek Jacobi in King Lear in Glasgow - again, it's meant to be a great performance. I would watch out for reviews as productions open, then book tickets fast if the reviews are good.

 

Alternatively, visit Stratford instead of London: enjoy the museum, cottage, etc. and see some theatre there. Warwick castle is also nearby, and is quite dramatic.

 

From Carnforth, you are very close to the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District - both very picturesque. You are also 90 minutes by car from Vindolanda on Hadrian's wall, which we plan to visit this summer on our way to North Wales, where my sister is getting married.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

Edited January 21, 2011 by Laura Corin

[swimmermom3]

Cynthia, I am green with envy. Ask Jane in NC about her experience in London. She took her son and they had a very memorable time. She'll make you want to hop on the plane asap. We want a report, please.:D

[MerryAtHope]

My mom and I spent a summer in England and saw 4 Shakespeare plays there--one at the Globe (beautiful theatre!), 2 in Oxford, and one in Stratford. This was 20 years ago though! While I enjoyed the play (Troilus and Cressida) at the Globe, it wasn't one of my favorite Shakespeare plays over all--and I think that is as important as WHERE you see it. There are so many colleges in Oxford, and my favorite experience was seeing a college performance of As You Like it. The play was performed entirely out of doors at 3 different locations (we followed the characters through the woods, and they had a couple of stage set-ups.). At one point the actors came rowing up the Thames River. You truly felt a part of the scene and as if things were real. That remains my mother's and my favorite Shakespeare experience.

 

I grew up seeing Shakespeare plays every summer. From a teenager's point of view, the comedies were more easily "accessible" for me. If your kids haven't seen a lot of Shakespeare, I might try for a comedy.

 

HTH some, have a wonderful trip! Merry :-)

[abbeyej]

Even if you choose to see a play somewhere else, you *must* go take one of the Globe tours! It's simply phenomenal! Really, dh, the kids, and I all thought it was just wonderful. While we were there, there was a special even with inner city school children performing Leer, so while we didn't have the opportunity to see a full production, it did at least give us a far greater sense of what it would be like in the theater... (Perhaps better than if we'd seen a production with a polite contemporary audience -- these raucous school kids may have been a bit closer to some of Shakespeare's audiences!)

 

Anyway, even if you don't have time to see a show, do tour the theatre. Not to be missed. (The tours at the Tower of London are also phenomenal. Hampton Court is a ways out of town and that takes effort, but also really fantastic presentation with lots of costumed historical characters appearing throughout the day to make the place come alive.)

[Jane in NC]

Hi Cynthia,

 

I posted this in another thread:

 

What? No field trip to London to attend a performance at the reconstructed Globe?

 

Let me tell you about my favorite day in that wonderful city. It began with a Shakespearean walking tour. We met our group near the Westminster Bridge, took a boat down the Thames, then wandered through Southwark with our guide who would perform passages from Shakespeare as well as provide historical information. The tour ended at the Saturday Southwark market where we bought a lunch that was consumed in the Cathedral garden, watching the world go by.

 

I had wanted to pay the extra money for a seat at the Globe but my son insisted on being a groundling in the pit. It was indeed a great decision, as we stood stage side with elbows resting on the stage. The play was Much Ado...and we were completely swept away.

[Moira in MA]

Yes, go to a performance at the Globe but only if you're in London. We toured the theatre when dds were 7 & 9 -- it was out of season. It was wonderful but last summer my eldest dd and I spent 2 weeks in England as a graduation celebration -- we saw Henry IV Part 2, not the greatest of plays but it was still a highlight of the trip -- dd had played Prince Hal in Part 1 earlier in the year so this one made sense to see. We paid for a seat rather than stood -- since it was incredibly hot for London, we very much appreciated it.

 

You should expect any play to be somewhat bawdy -- Shakespeare wrote for both the high and the low. Given that you are taking your son to a Bible college, you may want to catch some of the Bible reading being given to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the completion of the KJV instead.

 

Liverpool is home to the Beatles and there are lots of sites dedicated to them, Rick Steve's England guide book has lots of information. The Lake District has always been a favorite of mine. There are lots of wonderful hikes to take but April can be iffy weather-wise.

 

~Moira

[Miss Marple]

Thank you all for the suggestions. It sounds like we should make the Globe a priority. There are so many things to see and so little time! If you have any travel tips or other suggestions, please feel free to post them or PM me. We thinking about getting a rail pass or perhaps renting a car (although dh is a bit stressed by the thought of driving there).

[Laura Corin]

Thank you all for the suggestions. It sounds like we should make the Globe a priority. There are so many things to see and so little time! If you have any travel tips or other suggestions, please feel free to post them or PM me. We thinking about getting a rail pass or perhaps renting a car (although dh is a bit stressed by the thought of driving there).

 

If you want to go to towns (London, Bath, Stratford, etc.) then a rail pass makes things easy. It's worth booking seats for longer trips though: some routes are crowded and standing can get miserable. Booking seats is usually free, but I don't know how it works with a rail pass.

 

There are train routes that go to smaller places, but if you like to wander through the countryside then a car is fun. Don't rent a car in central London - it's easier if you do it on the edge of town, for example at one of the airports. That way you don't have to cope with central London traffic.

 

Laura

[Dawn in MI]

A friend of ours led a state university student tour last summer & attended a very inexpensive performance at the Globe Theatre in London because it was at midnight. They stood in the yard by flickering torchlight to see MacBeth. It was definitely a "you are there" experience, including unsuspecting student getting smeared in the face with "blood" and later having someone's cut-out tongue thrown, bloody & quivering, into the yard in front of the group. There was also a scene where an actress was stripped of her clothes--literally. At one point, one of the more socially immature students laughed at an inappropriate spot (maybe due to nervousness?) and one of the actors, in character, whipped a sword out toward him & threatened him to keep quiet. But at the intermission, the actors brought out the bread & wine and stayed in character as they sat on the ground sharing a surprise picnic-type meal with the student group. Although super-intense, the students thought it was an amazing experience which felt authentic to Shakespeare's time. So it turned out to be positive for them in the end. Maybe the actors go a little crazy at the midnight performances? I'm not sure if this was a unique performance or standard fare. I just shared this because I'd want someone to be this specific with me before I attended a performance of this kind. Our friend (who had no idea of what he was getting his group into) said his students afterwards judged it to be a highlight of their trip, but they all agreed that it was an extremely intense experience.

--Dawn