"Double, double toil and trouble..."
Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I 
Mar 13th
'Macbeth' was the very famous play by William Shakespeare which our entire Year 8 recently enjoyed seeing at the amazing 'Globe Theatre' on London's South Bank.
The weather was bright but very cold, and threatening rain as we set off, walking down to Queensbury tube station. It's just one train to get to London Bridge station and then a reasonably short walk to the theatre, but taking in some amazing sights and sounds, history packed back streets and London atmosphere on the way.
The rain did indeed come down as we were walking from London Bridge station, but we reached an enormous pedestrianised railway arch right next to the river where we could keep out of the worst of the weather and eat our lunches, all whilst taking in the amazing panoramas across the Thames to St. Paul's Cathedral and other famous landmarks. Then it was just a very short walk along to 'Shakespeare's Globe'.
This is an impressive, totally faithful timber-framed and thatched reproduction of the type of theatre where William Shakespeare's plays would have originally been performed before their London audiences, over 400 years ago.
Our View
Entering The Globe is rather exciting, especially if it's your first time. For a start , it's circular with the stage jutting out into a central standing area, known as 'The Standing Yard'. This is where we were to watch the play from, although there are three levels of balconies surrounding the stage.
Those standing in the Yard are known as 'Groundlings' and get an extremely close and intimate view of the performance. They can also get tired legs!
Up close and personal. You could see the (fake) blood dripping!
Packed to the rafters!
What we thought
The play was great, exciting, tense and with plenty of fake blood! It was also so interesting to see Shakespeare presented in this original 16th century performance configuration.
When we left the sun was shining and we hurried back to London Bridge station, hoping to miss the worst of the rush hour.
Our Head of English, Ms A Kang said of the trip,
"I want to say a big thank you to my fabulous department and everyone who attended our annual Globe trip! Taking a year group out on the Tube and walking through London is always an unforgettable experience.
This trip is such a fantastic opportunity for our Year 8s, who may otherwise never have the chance to visit the Globe in their lifetimes. ♥️
A special shoutout to Ms S Varsani from the KS4 Team and English Teacher Ms K Emmerson, who worked tirelessly to make this trip happen at short notice."
Our Globe tickets were free, courtesy of Deutsche Bank who have been supporting Shakespeare for young people for years now. Danke guys.
And our tube travel was also free, courtesy of TFL and the Mayor of London. Thanks Sadiq.
A short Instagram reel has been created showing our Globe Trip and is available to watch at our official Instagram account.
Click in the link above
or the instagram logo which can be found at the top right corner of pages on this Canons website.
What We Saw
We experienced a daring new production of Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank: Macbeth . This fast-paced, 90-minute version was created especially for young people and is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for everyone.
In the play, three witches prophesise that Macbeth, a general in the King's army, will become king himself. When the opportunity presents itself, and driven on by his calculating and cold-hearted wife, Macbeth murders the King whilst he sleeps.
Others are blamed and either killed or flee, and it seems that the newly crowned Macbeth now has all he wants; but he is then haunted by those that he has killed, sending him slightly mad!
He has the crown, but does he look happy?
Even Macbeth's cold and calculating wife becomes paranoid about the blood that was spilled and which she can't seem to get rid of.
Macbeth murders and kills again and again, trying to fix the 'mess' but only makes it worse and worse. His people turn against him, civil war ensues, his wife takes her own life and finally Macbeth is killed himself. Everyone cheered!
Performance photos by Tristram Kenton and shown here courtesy of Shakespeare's Globe. Thank you guys.
Did You Know?
- When it was built in 1997, Shakespeare’s Globe had to have special permission to have a thatched roof – there has been a law against thatched buildings in London since the Great Fire in 1666!
- It took 6,000 bundles of reeds from Norfolk to thatch Shakespeare’s Globe. The Norfolk reed beds only grow 4,000 a year. So that’s a year and a half’s reed supply!
- Shakespeare’s Globe holds 1,500 people, about half the number of the original Globe. People now are bigger and are less happy to squash up! Also, people in Shakespeare’s time did not have to obey safety regulations!
- Each of the two big pillars on the stage is one oak tree. The builders had to measure lots of trees to find two just the right size!
- There is a long standing theatrical superstition that the Shakespearian tragedy 'Macbeth' carries a curse! Actors feel that uttering the name Macbeth inside a theatre, but outside of actually performing, will bring bad luck, ill fortune or even death! This superstition stems from the play's dark themes, depictions of witchcraft, murder and death. Actors therefore carefully refer to Macbeth as 'the Scottish Play'.