This Wooden 'O'

Now, you know that if I have one hero above all others, it’s Will Shakespeare. I adore his plays; the words, the language, the poetry, the characterisation and the sheer theatricality of it all (and I firmly believe that anyone who doesn’t believe that the plays were written by a man of the theatre doesn’t know what they are talking about). Many of them I’ve seen numerous times (I think I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen Hamlet) but others come round very infrequently so I was thrilled to see that the Globe production of Titus Andronicus coincided with when we would be in London, to bring me one step closer to my goal of seeing all 37 plays on stage*

The Globe is an amazing theatrical space. When it was first mooted, I suppose I had my fears, like many others, that it would become a venue for ‘heritage’ Shakespeare, but it hasn’t, primarily, I think, because of the choice of artistic directors, firstly in Mark Rylance**, and now in Dominic Dromgoole, for whom it’s early days, but for whom I have high hopes. The productions that you see at the Globe, are, of course, nothing like a production in Shakespeare’s time – for one thing, we arrived at the theatre via the Millenium Bridge over the Thames, rather than through the crowded milieu of London life, surrounded by alehouses, brothels and bear baiting pits, and the theatre is a reconstruction with modern facilities, restaurants, cafes etc. But it is often said that in Shakespeare's time you went to ‘hear’ a play, and there are times, particularly if you are a ‘groundling’ and you can’t see something very clearly, that that is exactly what you do. The language washes over and around you. It’s a theatre where you really feel that the performance is a shared experience between actor and audience, which is both exhilarating, and occasionally scary.

I’ve been to the Globe twice before, but this was the best production I’ve seen, as it really used the space and brought out the horror, and the dark humour in the story. There is a point when your eyes have been assaulted by so much that is unbearable that, like Titus in the play, you can do nothing but laugh. The production is still previewing, but I thought there were some excellent performances, from Douglas Hodge as Titus, Geraldine Alexander as Tamora, Shaun Parkes as Aaron, and Laura Rees as Lavinia. In reading the play, I’ve felt that the part of Lavinia is unplayable – after all, the poor girl has her hands cut off and her tongue cut out pretty early on – but Rees’s performance was heartbreaking, particularly in contrast with her innocent and virtuous character in the early scenes.

We’d decided to share seats and standing tickets, sitting for one half, and standing for the other, and that worked really well, giving two different perspectives on the performance. For seeing everything that is going on, it’s better to have a seat (and it’s drier, if it rains), but for feeling part of the performance, you have to be a ‘groundling’ – there were bits when the actors were appealing to the ‘people of Rome’ and I really did want to shout up. We were continually moving around, to make room for the wheeled platforms that were moved around the space with the actors on, and sometimes they were literally playing over our heads.

It’s an early play, and one that has been rarely revived (you do need a strong stomach!), and whilst it certainly has it’s rough edges, some of the language is beautiful. I loved the fact that you could see the beginnings of later characters in these characters. Aaron is so clearly a prototype Iago and Tamora has strong echoes of Lady Macbeth.

It was also wonderful to be able to respond to the play as a first time viewer, by which I mean I could let the power of the performances and of the language carry me along, bringing out an emotional response to the story that it’s often difficult for me to have with Shakespeare. I had no pre-conceptions of how characters should be portrayed, as it’s not a play that I’ve studied (sometimes I’ve had ‘issues’ with productions simply because the director doesn’t see the character the way that I do – it’s the ‘Hamlet in pyjamas’ syndrome again), and seeing it has sent me back to the text, and to reading about other productions and that has to be a good thing.

Trouble is, I’m greedy for Shakespeare – I now want more.

* I now only have Henry VIII to go. If anyone hears of a production, please let me know.

**I do have ‘issues’ with some of Mark Rylance’s performances, but that’s mainly to do with his ‘Hamlet in pyjamas’ at the RSC. I don’t have issues with his stewardship of the Globe