Yesterday, I took a small troop of bard-enthusiasts to London to get the lowdown on his place of work: The Globe.

 

After an early start, a prompt train from Piccadilly (!) and a scoot across the city (marshalled by Lucy J) we were outside his office for a tour. We learned about how Shakespeare crafted his speech with repetitions and adaptations to appeal to the social strata of the Early Modern era, with actors directing their lines purposefully to ensure comprehension for all. 

 

Whilst exploring the building, we had the opportunity to see a modern re-telling of Macbeth in the warm-up stage, with actors in sportswear doing back-flips and funny noises. After getting our fill of historical facts we headed to Pizza Express to fill-up on some hot food as it had begun to rain!

 

Thankfully, things cleared-up and we were able to have a stroll across to Tower Bridge, to take some photos and prepare ourselves for Richard II at the Bridge Theatre. Under Nicholas Hytner’s direction, the production turned out to be cinematic, pacy and really moving – stand out performances came from Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey in the title role, Amanda Root as the Duchess of York and the relative unknown Royce Pierreson, as the King’s cousin (and competition) Bolingbroke.

 

Despite a late train coming home and a LOT of tiredness, we all had a fabulous time and there was much talk of future cultural exploits in the big city.

 

Ms C Spencer-Cruise