Macbeth, Ditch, The 39 Steps

Remember how I said I was going to cry when I saw Macbeth? Well, I came pretty close. The Globe Theatre gave me chills just walking up to it. I had been wanting to see a play here ever since I can remember, and I was about to see one as famous and epic as Macbeth?! I could Hardly contain myself. It was a lot smaller than I expected, but still amazing.
Back in Shakespeare's day, your tickets were based on class. Nowadays you can pretty much sit where you want. The lower classes stood for the entire performance in an area right by the front of the stage known as the yard. They were called groundlings, because they were on the ground and not technically "seated." This is where I was, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I wanted to be right up close and personal and as close to the stage as possible.
This production of Macbeth was really interesting, because they had an elastic tarp covering the entire groundling area with small holes to pop your head through. It was supposed to be kind if like Dante's Inferno, and represent "hell" in a way. It's hard to explain, but hopefully the pictures will help you understand. We had to stay put there the whole time, which was kind of hard, but it added a whole other element to the play- they had actors walking around underneath the tarp popping out and scaring us, and they used them to showcase some of the gore associated with the play- it was so interesting. It would be awesome to be able to look out into the audience as an actor and see little bobbing heads, and every now and then a character popping out of a hole in the middle of nowhere. The stage was fairly bare, but the background was a black tarp with blood spatters all over it. Walking in to that kind of environment was intense and exciting.

The acting was outstanding. The actor that played Macbeth was absolutely incredible. He really made the audience feel like they were a part of the show. He spoke all of his soliloquies directly at audience members. He even looked at me a few times! I was so drawn in that I stopped thinking about how uncomfortable my feet were feeling and just went straight into the world that was being presented in front of me. After the play was over, and after the curtain call, all the actors did a Scottish song and dance onstage with choreographed hand motions. I didn't understand why it was so celebratory at first, but apparently its a tradition in that theater to do a similar dance to the one we saw after every play to kind of shake off all the misery that they just performed and let it all go. It was a nice way to close out the story and jump start real life. I thought it was really interesting to see that, and it was enjoyable to see the actors kind of let loose after the tragedy they just performed.
There is so much I could talk about with this play, but most of it would just me praising everything aspect about the play. After it was over we walked out of the theater and I started tearing up. It was the most unbelievable play, and overall experience. I couldn't believe I just saw such an amazing production in the Globe Theatre. It was a total trip. It will go down as one of the most amazing experiences in my entire life.

My reaction to the original play "Ditch" was slightly different. The environment was awesome, but I wasn't a huge fan of the play. It took place underground in the Old Vic tunnels (think V For Vendetta, but grungier). When we walked in we were surrounded by modern surrealistic artwork all around the space. There was a bar, and shadow work and tons of interesting pieces. It was damp, and dark, and really dirty but it set the mood really well for the play we were about to see. I couldn't believe some of the things they did with that space. They were really into shadow work, and everything was really creepy.

The stage was literally in a tunnel- they just arranged some seating there, and provided blankets for the cold. It smelled like mildew, or more specifically, it smelled like Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. Everything was created out of nothing. It was so interesting. Who would have thought that an underground tunnel would have made for such an interesting theatre space.

The play itself was new, and had a lot of textual problems, and confusing nuances. A lot of things weren't as developed as they needed to be, and I was confused about a lot of aspects of the play. I also had a few problems with some of the acting choices in the play. There was one character who was written really well, and acted really well, but for the most part i was not a fan.

"39 Steps" was hilarious. It was nice to see a more mainstream show in the heart of London's theatre district. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, and my camera batteries died anyways, so I don't have anything to show for it. The play was made into an Alfred Hitchcock movie, which is apparently much darker than the play version, but I really enjoyed the humor. There were 4 actors and they each played about 10 roles. It was very similar humor to the humor in the play that I'm directing next fall called "The Complete History of America, Abridged." The acting was great, and they all had wonderful timing, but what I really loved about it the most was the pace. The scene transitions were done so fast, and people were running around and there was such a high energy there that was contagious. I really enjoyed the urgency behind the idea that these actors had a story to tell to the audience, and they really got right to it with no delays.

Well, those were the plays we saw this week. I can't wait to see what next week has in store!