Task 21: Attend Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre

In June 1997, the newly re-constructed Globe Theatre opened its doors to great fanfare and acclaim. As someone who has always fancied herself as a bit of a history and English Lit buff (I achieved a 2 for English Lit and History in my O Levels. although only people over the age of 55 would have a clue what that means), you’d think I would been first in the queue to cross its threshold, especially since the Tudors have always been my favourite period in history (all those doublets and farthingales). But sadly it’s remained one of those places that I’ve repeatedly said I’m desperate to visit without ever doing anything about it. Until the advent of my Sixty at 60 list that is.

And so it was that last Saturday evening, for the second part of my 60th birthday celebrations, Andrew and the family took me to the Globe Theatre to see a performance of As You Like It.  I was very excited!

The theatre was packed, the weather was dry and not too chilly, our seats were well positioned (if a little hard - remember to get cushions next time Hunots) and the atmosphere was buzzing with expectation.  The performance began. Young men wrestled, maidens eyed up young men wrestling, maidens (one dressed as a man) were banished to Forest of Arden, older men had long philosophical conversations about various matters and a band of musicians played a stunning array of Tudor instruments. At the interval I confessed that it had been a bit of struggle at times to follow the plot. Much to my relief, various family members echoed my thoughts. Michael, my elder son, duly accessed a synopsis on his tablet (why hadn't we thought about doing that earlier?!)

After the interval Shakespeare and the Globe began to really weave their magic. I found my ear becoming much more attuned to the style and pace of the prose, and by the end of the play I had pretty much mastered the plot. I got my head around the fact that Rosalind disguised as a man was training Orlando to become the perfect boyfriend and that Phoebe had fallen in love with her in her manly guise - and I rejoiced at Rosalind’s return to court and her subsequent marriage to Orlando (NB I'm impressed by the speed at which the four different relationships resulted in weddings - it took my younger son Jonathan 7 years to propose to his girlfriend Liz). And what an amazing tap dance routine!  A wonderful production, so much fun and a great start to my sixty at 60 challenge - yes, all the world's a stage......