I have seen films and recorded versions Shakespeare plays but I knew before I arrived that is was my first time seeing live Shakespeare, my first time seeing a play at the Globe, my first open air theatre and the first time I have had a standing ticket at a theatre.
As I like farce and comedies I decided to make Comedy of Errors the first live Shakespeare play I saw. It is a crazy story about 2 sets of twins who get split up, have the same names, and when they end up in the same place there are a lot of mistaken identities.
I am not a big fan of Shakespearian language, but I enjoyed the whole experience and was able to follow what was happening.
At the start the actor playing the Duke of Ephesus came on to explain that the actor who normally plays Dromio of Ephesus was indiposed and as the Globe doesn’t have set understudies another performer, who normally plays The Officer would perform that role reading from the script and the same would apply with the role of The Officer. Both performers did incredibly well with their normal black clothes and acting around the stage with their ring binders.
It wasn’t as uncomfortable being a groundling as I thought it might be – but I did get a spot by the stage in the shade, and the weather was ok. The play was funny with a running time of 2 hours with no interval.
8/10
