Day 13 (Tues., 7/23: "Aye me!")

Tuesday may have been the climax of our time here at The Globe, as we met very early and then had a backstage and ON STAGE tour of it.  We met Tom at 7:30 at the stage door, climbed up to the Musician's or Juliet Balcony, and had a look 'round.

The garlands and stained glass that you see in this video are dressings for Merry Wives; the other elements are permanent.

This is a wooden door, and the pattern you see is
made of wooden nails.

Me in the Juliet balcony: "Aye me."

The best was when we descended to the stage and walked around.  We tested out different spots on the stage, and practiced speaking to our 'three circles: myself, me and you, and me, you, and the audience.  We strutted on the boards, using lines from the scenes we are working on, and then we had a chance to deliver our lines like a dialogue with another actor, using the 'King's spot' which is just under the sun, up center stage, beneath the canopy, and also the down right corner, in front of one of the big pillars.  Then we each got a line from Puck's last two soliloquy in Dream and delivered them one after another, directing our words to one person sitting in the seats.  It was quite magical, and gave the impression of a Puck who could be in many bodies at once: very Puckish indeed.

What could make this day even better?  Maybe seeing a play on the stage later in the day?  In fact, we were scheduled to see Merry Wives of Windsor after lunch at 2:00.  It was, by that time, over 90 degrees F. in the shade, so I sprung for a seat rather than standing again.  I also walked down the river to a hat shop I had noticed and bought a sun hat, and I picked up a souvenir fan with my program.

The show was a lot of fun, and Falstaff was rather a merry prankster, demanding the drinks of the groundlings, and spitting what he didn't like right on them.  I was glad to be safely seated in the shade for more than one reason!  The setting was the roaring 20s, and the band played ragtime while the performers jitterbugged.  After our work with Mary the day before I had looked for Falstaff to be sorely beaten in the climax but they staged it so he just led them all a merry chase, like a clever fox playing with the hounds.

Although this was Tuesday on the calendar, it was Friday night for us, and at the end of a long, hot, emotional day I was happy to head back to my room after dinner for a cool shower and sleep.