October 2
We had a slow start to the day,
but eventually headed out for the Globe.
The guidebook said the nearest Tube station was London Bridge, but we
had quite a walk to find it. In the tourist areas there are maps which show the
directions to what’s within a 5 minute walk from where you are, but we found
the first map quite some time after we started walking, and the Globe was still
13 minutes away!
With the help of another woman
who was as lost as we were, we eventually found our way to the Globe. There was
a large crowd along the Thames but we thought we would try and get in for the
tour. Luckily we made the 12:00 tour, one of the last of the day as they have
afternoon performances of The Taming of the Shrew in the theatre.
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| The Globe |
Our guide was Glennis and she had
apparently been affiliated with the Globe for quite some time. We entered the
Globe and first sat in the lowest section of the seats. This was followed by a
time in the standing room only section in front of the stage (under the open roof).
The people who stood here paid a penny to watch the show and were called the
groundlings or penny-stinkards. To sit in the lowest benches cost two pennies. To
sit higher up and on a cushion, you paid three pennies. Royalty would pay six pennies to sit behind
above and behind the stage. They couldn’t see much of the play, but one went to
the play to hear it – and to be seen.
The pennies collected were put in
a clay box and when it was full, it was broken open and the proceeds shared
with the owners and actors. This is the origin of the term box office.
This reconstructed Globe holds
1,500 viewers – 500 in the groundling area and 1,000 in the benches. However,
while the reconstructed Globe is exactly the same size as the original, in
Shakespeare’s day they would fit 3,000 in per performance. The reason was that
people were smaller. Imagine how crowded it was with 3,000 viewers who would
bathe only once or twice a year (at Christmas and at Easter, if it weren’t too
cold).
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| View of the groundlings from the 2 penny seats |
Performances were only held in
the afternoon from 2 to 4. People wanted to get back over the river before dark
and before the gates to London were closed at 6 PM. There was a flag at the top of the theatre.
It the flag was flying, there was a performance. No flag on the mast meant there
would be no performance that day, usually because of plague.
After our tour of the Globe, we had
lunch at the Swan, which is right beside the Globe.
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| Tower Bridge |
We then headed out to the Tower
of London. Rather than walk across the Millennium Bridge to Blackfriars’ Tube station,
we decided to take a river boat. The
Tower was only two river stops from the Globe. When we went on the boat (around
2 PM), the tide was coming in and the river was very high.
Next: the Tower of London. I went into the torture exhibit. It seems
that torture as a method of exacting information was only used during the time of
Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, through to James I; approximately 100
years. In that 100 years, about 80 people were tortured throughout England,
mainly for crimes like burglary or treason. More than half were tortured in the
Tower. The main methods of torture were the rack and the scavenger’s daughter, where
the body was folded in on itself.
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| Traitors' Gate |
We saw Traitors’ Gate, where
occupants would arrive at the Tower from the Thames. We also viewed the Crown
Jewels.
After all this walking, we were
pretty beat, so headed back to the flat for a couple of hours’ rest. Around
eight PM we headed out to Ye Olde Watling, a 17th century pub that
is a few minutes from the flat. The pub was made from old ships’ timbers and is
best known as the office of Christopher Wren when he was working on the
building of St. Paul’s.
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| Our local pub |
Tomorrow, the State Rooms, Mews, and Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.
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