All the World's a Stage

Last Thursday saw my first trip to Shakespeare’s Globe. Situated on the Embankment near London Bridge, the open-air theatre is a reproduction of the original Globe that burned down in the 17^th century.

We (Martin and our Kiwi friends Adam and Nadia) had booked standing tickets to see Dr Faustus. The more observant of you will note that the play isn’t in Shakespeare’s repertoire; it was written by Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of the Bard.

The play is set in 16^th century Germany; Dr Faustus is a scholar who uses magic to gain more knowledge. He enters into a bargain with Mephistopheles, an agent of Lucifer: Faustus sells his soul to the devil in exchange for 24 years of luxury and unquestioning service from the dark side.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the play is all doom and gloom, but light relief is provided by the ‘Fool’ character Robin and regular bawdy scenes.

Any fears that the audience may have had about not understanding language from 500 years ago surely must have been abated by the stunning production.

At only £5, the standing tickets are a real bargain. The advantage of a standing ticket is that you’re right in the centre of the action. 

I was nearly impaled by the Good Angel’s sword; parts of Gluttony’s cream cake landed in my hair; one actor, whose character had fallen off a horse into a pond arrived on stage dripping wet and proceeded to squeeze out his sodden woollen socks over our heads (we moved pretty quickly). He then removed his breeches, revealing his bare bum right in front of our faces. Lovely!

Other members of the audience were also involved; one caught Gluttony’s rejected celery stick and could be seen during the interval proudly holding his prize; others had tennis balls thrown at them.

The final scene of the play involves the Furies visiting Faustus to claim their debt. This was an affecting scene; horned beasts appeared in the audience as if from nowhere; smoke from Hell swirled around. I could imagine the effect this scene would have had on a more religious and superstitious audiences in times gone by.

Keen not to let the audience leave on a downbeat note, however, the cast performed a song and dance routine at the end.

Mephistopheles was played by Arthur Darvill, famous for playing Rory in Dr Who. He was excellent; a far cry from his wimpy TV character. However, it's unfair to single him out as the whole cast was fantastic.

The effect of being able to stand right next to the stage cannot be underestimated; you really feel a part of the play in a way that you are unable to in other theatres. Standing isn’t a problem; I was so engrossed that time flew. It is very civilised and certainly isn’t a mosh pit.

The open-air feature of the theatre meant I followed the weather forecast rather obsessively for the week leading up to it. Heavy showers have been a regular feature this summer. The rain continued lightly throughout the performance, but I barely noticed.

But lo! What winged beasts do fly above? Unfortunately, the Globe is beneath a flight path and the hum of low-flying planes would disturb proceedings every so often. I suppose there’s not much that can be done about that, but it certainly didn’t spoil anything.

The ultimate recommendation for Dr Faustus and the Globe? Martin, who in our 12 years together has been enticed to the theatre on only one other occasion during our relationship (to see The Crucible) absolutely loved it and can’t wait to go again.

So if you will excuse me, I will bid you adieu to book some more tickets. Maybe next time, I’ll see you there.