Day # 10: "All the world's a stage..." When you're at SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE THEATRE

Today was the pinnacle of my London theatre experience for I went to...*cue fireworks*... SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE THEATRE!!! I wanted to put on a doublet and speak in iambic pentameter the whole day! (That wouldn't have worked since women didn't act in the English Renaissance...they were missing out!) We were allowed to see the exhibit before our group tour in the late morning and the theatre's history alone was fascinating! My favorite part was the costumes...I could totes be a merchant of venice, eh?

They also had this booth where you could hear past renditions of classic Shakespeare monologues... I had a little too much fun, especially when I saw that my favorite Shakespearean Actor Kenneth Branagh was up there...GEEKING OUT WITHOUT SHAME!

Took me long enough to notice I had an audience...Oops! Finally our tour guide took us into the Globe and I had a fit of theatrical nostalgia. (This quickly dissipated my frustration two minutes earlier while trying to master Temple Run 2 as a way to curb my impatience for the tour! Curse my slow reflexes! In 7th grade, we timed our hand eye coordination and I was the slowest...I got better! (name that movie!)) Although the original theatre burnt down and this present one was recreated in 1997, it still was magical to behold. It shows how valuable Shakespeare is to the British culture when you see how many donations were given to complete it (one lady noticed they were lacking wood and gave her very on oak tree from her backyard now seen in the benches of the balconies! Tender!) and research worked on to make sure every detail was as close to the real thing. Here is the inside :)...

There's more but not all are lovers of The Bard (crazy!) and I don't want to bore you...only show you how cool the inside is! We had a break before seeing The Tempest, and crossed off a big bucket list item = FISH & CHIPS! For the life of me, I cant remember what the pub was called where we got them! It's right by St. Paul's Cathedral though! Yum... its basically the American equivalent of getting a well done burger. It hits the spot :P

Rushing back over the Thames, we scored a "seat" right against the stage in the peasant standing section of the theatre! Guess who was going to be acting inches from my face...ROGER ALLAM (Original Javert in Les Mis) and Colin Morgan from Merlin! Score 2 & 3 for celebrity encounters!

The play was witty and whimsical! There is something so surreal about it being outside, and having the actors interact with you! Remember how I once thought I was impervious to rain? Well its still true! I didn't want to lug a jacket on what appeared to be a warm day, but ironically the weather wished to appeased the title of the play quite literally... it POURED throughout Act 2! I was soaked from the rain bouncing back off the stage too on top of the heavens raining down. The actors went on without a slip (literally!) and Allam had some epic moments when the rain seemed to bend to the will of his lines...ah! Live theatre! Do you see the puddles on the ground? Yeah, we definitely saw The Tempest!

By the time the show ended, the day was coming to a close and we were exhausted, wet, and on cloud 9 from the stellar performance! I've decided that if I could go back in time, I'd spend a day in the English Renaissance during the performance for the Queen of "The Twelfth Night" and see how Shakespeare's words revolutionized the literary world! How corny, but what do you expect from a romantic dreamer like me!