#shakespearesglobe

Eddie Redmayne as Viola in Shakespeare’s Globe’s original practices production of Twelfth Night at Middle Temple Hall, 2002.

Photo: Jonathan Root

KING CLAUDIUS

Where is Polonius?

HAMLET

I’m in London right now. First time I’ve ever been. I’m leaving tomorrow, but I need to tell y’all abt something.

Everyone knows Shakespeare’s Globe. The Globe theatre. Everyone knows it, because it’s Shakespeare’s theatre. If you know Shakespeare, you probably know Marlowe, his rival. Marlowe’s theatre was the Rose. It was also one of the first theatres in London, closely followed by the globe and the swan.

Today I went on a tour of the Globe (super cool!) and I was walking around nearby when I found a tiny building labeled “The Rose Theatre.” I was a little surprised by how small and hole-in-the-Wall the building was, but I walked in expecting a theatre similar to the Globe.

Y’all. Believe me when I tell you that there is nothing there. When you walk in there is a little reception room and some tables. Behind the door on the far side of the room is a little area with some seats, a cleared space for presenters, and a fence on one edge.

It’s pretty dark. It’s hard to tell what it is, but they’re showing a little movie about it, and the little dark area beyond the fence? It’s water. Underneath the water is the remains of the Rose. Just the fucking outline of the buiding and the stage.

There were four people working there, all elderly women, all volunteers. They don’t have heating or running water. It’s not even fully excavated, there’s a fucking building covering a third of the goddamn theatre.

In the 80s when it was first discovered that the Rose was there, there was a big thing about how the remains should be excavated. Famous actors and lots of people put their support behind it, and then the money ran out. And people stopped caring. Turns out, the reason the remains were relatively well preserved were because the water from the Thames kept it. When they pumped the water out, the site dried out and became unstable. They had to stop.

And now what remains of the Rose theatre lies half excavated and flooded in a dinky little building less than five minutes from the glory of Shakespeare’s Globe.

No one goes in there. Hardly anyone knows about it. They can’t even bring schools in for field trips because of their conditions (running water and heating). All they want is to fully excavate the remains, rebuild it if they can. Make sure people know that it’s there.

And it makes me so sad, and so frustrated. This is the theatre where all of Marlowe’s plays were performed, where Titus Andronicus made its debut. No one even knows it’s there. Shakespeare’s Globe is famous, it’s been rebuilt three times, but Shakespeare’s rival’s theatre sits flooded to keep it from crumbling. It’s ironic and sad.

It’s government owned land, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stay open to the public.

It’s not the Rose theatre in kingston. That’s a modern theatre. The people at the actual site want to preserve the remains of the theatre, rebuild and have a functioning playhouse. But that won’t even be able to happen if nobody knows it’s there.

Hey girls,

So this past weekend I went to London on a solo trip. Now, I know what you may be thinking “oh wow. That’s SO brave. A single female? Making her way in a foreign country? With no friends? That’s the way to go. SO brave.”

I feel like many people are stumped by solo travelers, especial female solo travelers. Do they not have any friends? Or are they just too cool for everyone? How do they spend their days? What happens if you get lost? Or robbed? Or, worst of all, lonely?

So I want to put it out there that solo traveling, at least for me, is not a sojourning, life-changing experience. Often times, it is pointless and feels kind of vapid. It can also be frustrating at times to. You always have to make the decision on where to go, if you get lost, you are the one to find your way back, and if you have to go pee at a coffee shop, you have to pack and unpack up all your stuff.

It can be exhausting.

However, it can also be incredibly rewarding as well. You made it to another country. By yourself. That’s sick. And your the one calling the shots. Want to spend an afternoon in your hostel? Go for it. Feeling up for some gelato? Grab a cup. Don’t want to go to a stuffy museum? Don’t have to. You call all the shots.

Ninety-Five percent of my time in London, I’m not going to lie, was sub-par or terrible. It is absolutely not the city, the city is lovely, but it was more I kept on getting lost trying to find the perfect coffee shop and was trying to write a script and get my homework done in an unfamiliar area. On top of that, even though the flight to London is only 30 minutes, it is a pain in the ass. Ubers/metros to the airports, border security, customs, and TSA made it an unpleasant and tedious travel experience especially for a weekend. It was exhausting.

However, that Saturday night after I completed my homework, I went to the Shakespeare’s Globe, which is way I came to London in the first place: to watch a Shakespeare play.

Shakespeare always brings up fond childhood memories for me of preforming his plays. They thought me self-confidence, team-work, and expression. I owe everything to Shakespeare.

Before I saw the play, I asked a theater attendant where good food was. She recommended “Founder’s Tavern” for some fish and chips. The sun was setting, some good ol’ boys from MANchester were ‘complainin’ abou’ ‘ow some bLOKE tried ta punch yA,’ and I gobbled down the fried cob and fries.

I hurried off the the theater and witnessed a beautiful experience that made my entire time worth it. A troupe of women of color preformed a politically charged play about a king. Their voices were articulate and powerful and their costumes were stunning. The Globe is such an intimate theater that it feels like you are right in the action.

So yes, traveling is lonely. You may get robbed and lost. But, it is a thousand times better than not going at all.

You are your own travel buddy. Learn her style. How to work with her. Her likes, dislikes, strengths, and limits. Traveling alone does not mean automatically mean unity.

Take care,