Globe Theater London question

[MJC]

We can choose to see Macbeth in the afternoon or in the evening. I want to go at night for a more authentic experience (7:30pm in early October). DH says it will be too hard to see at night and he wants to go to the matinee. I reminded him that we were there for an evening play several years ago and it seemed fine to him back then. Not to mention, they do night performances all the time and plenty of people go. Any advice?

[gnome12]

Go in the evening.

[TouchstoneFeste]

Not sure what you mean by "a more authentic experience" (this summer's Macbeth appears not to be a period recreation), but our best information is that Elizabethan outdoor performances were in the afternoon. That said, my wife and I took in an evening performance there a few years back, and the experience was still wonderful; the house was pretty full, too. 

[Globaliser]

12 hours ago, MJC said:

We can choose to see Macbeth in the afternoon or in the evening. I want to go at night for a more authentic experience (7:30pm in early October). DH says it will be too hard to see at night and he wants to go to the matinee. I reminded him that we were there for an evening play several years ago and it seemed fine to him back then. Not to mention, they do night performances all the time and plenty of people go. Any advice?

 

We do now have electric lighting over here! 😀

 

The most magical (if tiring) experience at the Globe is when they do a mid-June show starting at 11.59 pm, especially when it's A Midsummer Night's Dream (as it was this season). Most of the performance takes place under the night sky, but by the time it finishes dawn has broken and you can walk home in the light. I can vouch for the fact that there's no difficulty in seeing what's happening on stage.

[Cotswold Eagle]

20 hours ago, MJC said:

I want to go at night for a more authentic experience (7:30pm in early October).

Why would this be more authentic? Performances in Shakespeare's times would have generally been earlier than this, in the afternoon.

 

The evening performances are lit as if during the daytime - the productions at the Globe Theatre do not use stage lighting as we know it today, but the house is lit to simulate daytime in the evening. I suppose that might be more reliable, but it is arguable that the afternoon would be be more authentic 😀

[Langoustine]

Authentic? At night? In the Globe?

"I do not think that word means what you think it means."

[Ocean Mouse]

Whether you go afternoon or evening bear in mind it could be cold and/or wet and take appropriate clothing. Also if you are sitting you will probably need a cushion and if you get a "groundling" ticket you could be standing for three hours 

[gnome12]

Even with the cushion it isn't terribly comfortable. If sitting try the back row of seats; I think there you have something to lean against.

[Globaliser]

47 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Even with the cushion it isn't terribly comfortable. If sitting try the back row of seats; I think there you have something to lean against.

 

Or take a folding seat cushion that has its own seat back, like this product. Not allowed in the yard (the standing area), of course.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

 

Or take a folding seat cushion that has its own seat back, like this product. Not allowed in the yard (the standing area), of course.

Not something I would have brought with me from Canada as I was in Copenhagen and Edinburgh before arriving in London, but interesting. 

[Globaliser]

5 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Not something I would have brought with me from Canada as I was in Copenhagen and Edinburgh before arriving in London, but interesting. 

 

I seem to recall that the Globe used to hire out something like this, but I can't now find any mention of them on the website.

[gnome12]

4 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

I seem to recall that the Globe used to hire out something like this, but I can't now find any mention of them on the website.

All they hired out in 2019 was a flat cushion.