Essay about London
by Chrissi
From January 31st to February 4th we went to London on a class trip. We stayed there for three
nights and I personally think in that time we of course didn’t see everything but already very
much of the city. I really liked how nice, open-minded and polite most people were and of
course the facets of the city. But one special experience was one of the best and most exciting
on our class trip.
On that day it was so cold and I was
not fancying just going quickly
through another museum so that I
just wanted to be home again. But it
was far better than I expected. We
met at Globe Theatre and a really
likeable young woman with a lovely
London accent came to us to guide
us through the building, which was
a copy of the original Globe Theatre
of Shakespearean time. From the
outside it just looked like a round
wooden building with a thached
roof. The guide told us a few things about its shape, the used materials , the position (which was
the south side of the Thames) and the rebuilding of the original Globe after the Great Fire in
1666 until the reconstruction (we were standing in front of) and opening in 1997.
When we went in and climbed upstairs, I didn’t expect that I would be overwhelmed so much.
We got out at the second floor and could see the whole theatre from the inside. It was like a big
circle, the stage and the courtyard were down there and all around were seats on three levels.
They wanted to imitate the whole way the plays were staged in former times, the woman, also
an actress, told us, they tried to keep it as original and authentic as possible. So for example
they abstain from microphones and audio amplifiers, which are substituted by the circle shape,
because of its great acoustics. Also special effects can be enabled on the traditional way: A
person who is sitting under the roof makes all the noises for example through drumming or
stamping.
We thought that the best seats would be right in the middle of our floor, although it was really
narrow in it. Of course we were wrong. Back then we probably would have paid about two
pennies. The most popular seats were right about and next to the stage. If you could afford
more money, you had your own cabinet and a lot of space.
After that we went down to the “yard” in the middle where all the poor “groundlings” stood,
because it was the cheapest place in the theatre. By listening to the guide we could really
imagine how it had been then. She told us that as a matter of course the people couldn’t and
didn’t wash themselves very often, how they had eaten garlic and drunken beer and that there
had been no toilets at all. So what could you do then not to loose your nice place? There was no
chance to come in again after you went out of the theatre.
It was the authentic and detailed way the young woman told it and that had been also the most
important aspect the theatre in former times set a high value on. Because of the little
possibilities the visitors anyway had to concentrate more on their ears than on their eyes or
noses, what might have been difficult next to that horrible smell.
Of course nowadays the Globe has toilets and some electronics for the lights, because acts are
mostly performed in the evening, while back then the daylight of the afternoon was enough.
Altogether I loved the Globe theatre. It looked so beautiful because of the solely and detailed
use of wood (for example the “marmoreal” pillar). Unfortunately we didn’t visit a play but if I go
to London another time, I will definitely visit this theatre and watch a play!