We had a leisurely breakfast, and headed for St Paul's in the biting cold of the windy morning. We did not tour Christopher Wren's grand cathedral, but we took many photos of it against clear blue skies. Then we walked across the Millennium Bridge - more wind, more photos, no swaying - towards The Globe.
We admired the thatched roof of the theatre, and found out from Angela our tour manager that it is the only building in London allowed one, chiefly because the straw it's made of is a great fire hazard, fuelling the spread of the Great Fire of London. We were there a bit early, so we visited the extremely comprehensive and fascinating exhibition. It featured many costumes painstakingly made to match the portraits of Elizabethan times; a full dress for the Queen is still made without zips or buttons. Instead, each part of the dress has to be laced on, which takes 90 awfully long minutes. There was also information on how the actors kept their costumes clean - they wore linen undershirts, and cleaned the costumes with urine. Fermented urine is apparently and extremely potent detergent, unless it is from an alcoholic, in which case it is completely useless.
Eventually we went to meet Simon, a Shakespearean actor, for an introduction to The Globe. He told us much of how the theatre came to be. Cuthbert and Richard Burbage had wanted to build an indoor theatre in a disused monastery in Blackfriars after the lease on the first theatre in London since the Romans ended, but were turned away, so they finally settled on an outdoor theatre in Bankside. Part of the reason for this was that being on the outskirts of city limits, they were less restricted by laws of the city. Simon also got some volunteers to enact part of The Duchess of Malfi, with hilarious results.
We also toured The Globe itself, and peeked into 'hell' (below the stage) and looked up at 'heaven' (the painted ceiling). The significance of this is that no matter where a play might be set, it was always on 'earth'. The Globe relies on natural light, and plays there don't use props. Back in Shakespeare's time, it also managed to take in 3000 people. Today it takes 1600, possibly due to health and safety regulations.
Afterward, we broke for lunch. Finding a quick, hot lunch at 1 pm in Southwark is not an easy task. Many of us ended up at Starbucks, some others at 'The Real Greek'.
Being the introvert that I am, I wasn't really looking forward to the workshop on The Duchess of Malfi. I needn't have worried at all. It was thoroughly enjoyable and liberating. Simon had us in pairs and gave us an extract of the text to act out with our partners. He gave us simple instructions on what to do when acting the scene, like pointing to ourselves when reading 'I', and telling our partners what we wanted them to respond with. It was all good and noisy fun, and I didn't think much of the meaning of his instructions till the end. Then, he explained that everything that could be interpreted of a play was in the words. Actors at The Globe changed the scene and setting through language, and the audience of the past listened for it. It seems an obvious thing, that a text is contained entirely in its words, but for me at least, it took embodiment of those words to see the obvious.
We ventured into the foyer of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which was opened today. Sam Wanamaker was the American actor whose idea it was to build The Globe. The Playhouse is an indoor theatre lighted only by candles, as an indoor theatre would have been back in the 17th century. Many of us also bought copies of Shakespeare's works as souvenirs to remind us of our experience.
We admired beautiful dusk sky as we walked to the Tate Modern next door. We were given an hour to try and take in as much as we could of contemporary art. We were visibly disappointed that the Turbine Hall was closed, only to reopen next year. Of the exhibitions, I especially enjoyed the Surrealism and Minimalism ones. It's quite amazing how the different inspirations, motives and manifestations of both still managed to bring a great sense of the tranquil and serene. Many of us also enjoyed the wonderful shop, which was mecca for modern art books.
Today we had fish & chips at The Rock, Sole and Plaice. We sat outside but it was still brilliant. It was a great experience eating the piping hot fish doused in vinegar because for once I didn't have to burn my tongue to enjoy hot food in all its glory. It was made more enjoyable because the heaters perfectly balanced the cold.
When we were all happily well-fed, we walked to Duke of York's to watch 'Perfect Nonsense'. An adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse's 'The Code of the Woosters', it had all of us laughing throughout. Everyone was amazed at the speed at which the actors changed in order to play their different roles. Matthew MacFayden played a Jeeves more imperious than Stephen Fry's, but rendered a hilarious Stiffy Byng. To my initial disappointment, however, "Due to the indisposition of Stephen Mangan, at this performance the role of Bertie Wooster will be played by Edward Hancock." My dismay was unfounded because Edward Hancock played an energetic and youthful Bertie that everyone loved. We all also especially loved the Charleston all three actors danced at the end, and went away into the cold feeling very happy.
Written by Yanhui, 13A02
No comments:
Post a Comment