London Life: Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Eve Best as Beatrice in Much Ado About Noting at The Globe. Picture: The Guardian

I'm sure most tourists who come to London go and visit the lovingly rebuilt Globe Theatre when in town. I am, therefore, quite ashamed that until yesterday I hadn't even been inside this important landmark of British (theatre) history.

Yesterday with a little help from the Englishman who booked the tickets, I righted this wrong. We saw Much Ado About Nothing in a matinee performance. Although the Englishman's motives may not have been wholly pure - he told me during the interval that Eve Best (star of Nurse Jackie) would have to go on his approved list - I must really thank him for his foresight.  (What you ask is the approved list? Well, for instance if George Clooney offered me a tumble in the hay, it'd be OK by the Englishman as he's on my 'approved list'. Like that's going to happen...)

The matinee performance was absolutely heaving; there wasn't a free seat in the house. Even the erratic British summer weather hadn't put people off this partly outdoor venue.

A full review of the play is here on my other site. I recommend you book to see a play by Shakespeare at The Globe if you haven't yet - it's not cheap but not terribly expensive either. We paid £79-00 for two tickets right at the front of the third tier balcony. The atmosphere alone is worth it - when you add the historical significance of watching the master's work in the surroundings he designed, it could only be called priceless. The season runs from April to early October.