A Midautumn Afternoon's Dream

Today I went to see Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe Theatre. And to get the full period effect I was what is called a "groundling". In Shakespeare's day, the area of the theatre usually now called the orchestra or stall seats did not have seats at all. The area in front of the stage is empty ground and the people in that area must stand. Those people standing are called groundlings. So for two and a half hours I stood and watched the play. The first half was a bit difficult to see due to the wall of tall, male German tourists in front of me, but during the intermission they left long enough for me to move forward and have clear view over shorter people's heads to the stage when the play resumed.

Though it will never be one of my favourite of Shakespeare's plays, this production was very well done and I liked it immensely. To briefly sum up the plot, there are lovers from the city who run away into the forest and become victim to the forest faeries' magical mischief, and then in the end everything is sorted out again and there's a big wedding. The music had just the right etherial touch for all the faeries. I loved the colourful costumes. They were a fantasical sort of Elizabethan garb that grew more varied in hues as the setting turned from city to magic forest. As for sets, there was a large blue curtain in the back of the stage when they were in the forest, and when they weren't in the forest there was nothing. The words of the play were written so that sets really aren't necessary. And the whole thing was hilarious. There were parts that I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. The acting was amazing!

All in all, I had a fun afternoon; it was a unique experience that I wouldn't have wanted to miss. Standing for so long isn't as hard as you might imagine. But it was exhausting as soon as I came home.