LONDON 3B: The Globe, the Tate Modern, the National Theater

 

Shakespeare's Globe Theater

Th 26 May 

This is the continuation of the post about Thursday, 26 May. It was written on that day but is posting late, as photos weren't added until now. All of these activities were in London's South Bank area (on the southern bank of the Thames).

Shakespeare's Globe

Our first destination today was Shakespeare's Globe Theater, where Doug had booked an 11am tour, a few days ago. We had originally hoped to watch a performance there as well, but that would have to have been booked even farther in advance. However I'm very happy we got to do the theater tour at least; it did not disappoint.

I've heard about so much about the recreation of Shakespeare's Globe theater (opened in 1997); it was very cool to finally see it and sit in it. It's actually much nicer than I thought it would be. I knew they tried to replicate the original 1599 and 1614 versions of the theater, so I expected it would be pretty rustic. But the seating and stage decor is actually nicer and more colorful than I had imagined. Yes, I can believe you might want a cushion after sitting a long time on the bench seating, but with the thrust stage and cozy theater size, I think it'd be great to watch a performance there.

Our tour guide was very energetic and told us about the history of Shakespeare and getting the original theater established, and about the various efforts to establish a replica later on. She also helped us imagine what it would have been like to go to the theater in Shakespeare's time—what was different about performances (e.g. no female performers), and also what was different about audience behavior and comforts (e.g. NO TOILETS...). 

The organization that runs the Globe also built a small, fully indoor theater in the same complex, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Our guide mentioned that performances there are often lit only by candlelight. That would be something to see! Sigh, another item to add to our growing Next-Time-We-Go-to-England list.

The Tate Modern

After a nice lunch at a nearby Turkish restaurant, we continued on to the Tate Modern. It's wonderful that many museums in the UK are free; it encourages you to pop in, even for short visits, and it means anyone at any income level can go (though some special exhibitions do require a fee). Like the Globe, I had heard of the Tate before the trip; unfortunately, unlike the Globe, I found the Tate a little disappointing. I think part of the disappointment is from not understanding its focus beforehand. I thought it would be like the great MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, or even like the SF MOMA, that have classics of modern art as well as newer artists. The Tate seems to be more focused on current artists, and to its credit, featured a lot of female and non-white artists. However sometimes the pieces seemed more uneven in quality and connectedness. 

There were pieces that we liked though; below are photos of two of them. One is a performance art piece by Lee Mingwei that involved a ritualistic sweeping of rice by two performers. You could watch it from different levels of the museum. It had viewers, including us, mesmerized. Another was a small "artist room" devoted to one artist, Phyllida Barlow, a sculptor,  It included a video of her talking about her work, which added a lot to the experience.

The National Theater: The Father and the Assassin

We felt we needed to see some kind of theatrical performance in London. One of our friends especially loves the theater in London, and encouraged us to go. I think that friend typically goes to West End shows more (kind of like Broadway shows in NYC), but tickets can be hard to get. Based on glowing reviews, Doug ended up getting us tickets to a serious drama at the National Theater, "The Father and the Assassin."

It turned out to be an interesting, excellent production, and also a show that is particularly relevant to England, because it takes place during the ending of Britain's colonial rule of India. It tells the story of the real person who murdered Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, but along the way it illuminates various aspects of the times he lived in: why India was fighting to shake off colonial rule, how Gandhi himself evolved, and how Godse evolved and became a radicalized Hindu nationalist. The playwright and performers succeeded in making a complex political situation into compelling theater. You root for both Ganse and Gandhi, and you understand more about the challenges India faced. It was very good, very creative story telling.

[Photo of a scene in the play is from a review.]

Nightlife along the Thames

After we got out of the show, it turned out that the riverbank by the Thames was just bustling with nighttime activity. The National Theater, where we were at, has three different auditoriums, so other shows than ours were letting out, too. Plus there were lots of cafes and small eateries open by the river. We were heading back to our hotel, but Doug commented that "some of these people are just starting their night."

Next Post

Tomorrow is the Sky Garden, plus a search for the Zari Gallery.

A favorite memory from our 1999 trip was 
having ice cream at a show; in London you
can do that. Doug surprised me at this 
intermission with a tub of gelato!!

Doug liked that the Tate has a floor 0.