The one time I locked eyes with Stephen Fry.

Last night was probably one of the most fun experiences yet in London!! Last night we had the good fortune to attend a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at none other than Shakespeare's home turf, the Globe Theatre. I must say, I had my reservations going in to this situation. First, I did not completely enjoy reading the play for class. Second, I wasn't exactly looking forward to standing for three hours straight. And third, I was not looking forward to getting rained on, since it was a somewhat drizzly day. Guess what? I had the time of my life!

As you can probably deduce, the Globe is shaped like a circle, with a thrust stage into the audience. There are two ways to watch plays at the Globe. The first (and most expensive option) is to sit up in the booths encircling the top of the theatre, as well as directly behind the stage. Back in Shakespeare's day, this is where the rich and important people would sit, so they could see and be seen by other members of the audience. The second, cheaper (and way more fun) option is to be a groundling and stand in the yard.The Globe is mostly an open space with the stage, and you stand in the crowd in the big open space to watch the show. This is where the commoners would watch plays from, and to be quite honest, it is so much fun being a groundling! Everyone can just stand together, almost as if you were at a rock concert, and have a good time enjoying each other's company while watching amazing theatre. An added bonus: the actors usually perform more to the crowd in the yard than the people up in the booths. Therefore, as an audience member, you feel like you are actively involved in the play itself.

Another apprehension I had going in to this play was that it was an Original Practices production. That is, every role, including female roles, were all played by men. They all wore traditional Elizabethan costumes too. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to react to men playing women, but I tried to keep an open mind.

However, I was quite excited to see some of the actors. Stephen Fry (if you don't know who he is, you should be ashamed of yourself) played Malvolio, and the man who plays Barty Crouch Sr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire played Sir Andrew. Later on, I recognized the young man who played Sebastian from the HBO miniseries, John Adams! Coolness.

For those who don't know the plot of Twelfth Night, here is a brief synopsis: A young woman named Viola is shipwrecked onto a land named Illyria and believes her twin brother Sebastian to be dead. For protection, she disguises herself as a man named Cesario and joins the court of Duke Orsino, who immediately commissions Cesario to woo the beautiful Lady Olivia on his behalf. Olivia is not interested in Orsino's overtures, but eventually finds herself falling in love with Cesario. Cesario/Viola, on the other hand, falls for Orsino, but has to keep her love hidden because she is still disguised as a man. When Viola's twin brother Sebastian arrives to Illyria, a hilarious series of confusing mix-ups and mishaps ensue. For more information (but not necessarily accuracy), watch She's the Man :)

Before the play even began, I was already having a wonderful time. The energy of the crowd was completely contagious, everyone eagerly awaiting the start of the play. Musicians wearing Elizabethan garb and playing medieval instruments entertained us on the stage, followed by an Elizabethan band fanfare on the balcony over the stage. And speaking of the stage, it was gorgeous!! The ceiling of the stage was painted blue with stars and other pretty designs, and ivy crawled up many sides of the stage.

Once the play began, I basically laughed from beginning to end. Twelfth Night is so much more hilarious and entertaining when actually watched live. And to my great surprise, I had no problem at all adjusting to the men playing women (and in Viola's case, a man playing a woman playing a man). In fact, it greatly added to the comedic aspect of the play. For example, the man who played Olivia (Mark Rylance, apparently he's the god of theatre in the UK) did such a funny walk, it looked like she was on wheels, and was so prim and proper at the beginning that you couldn't help but laugh at her. Watching Twelfth Night live also enlivened some of the more raunchy moments of the play, which had me doubled over in gut-busting laughter. Of course, Stephen Fry was above reproach as the madly misused Malvolio. Poor guy. Malvolio comes across as kind of an arrogant, pompous prick in the play, but Stephen Fry played him with such sensitivity and emotion that you actually did sympathize with him when he was cruelly made the butt of a rather mean prank. Of course, all the other actors did a phenomenal job. No complaints here. And, we lucked out in regard to weather. It was drizzly in the beginning of the play, but actually stopped raining about halfway through so I hardly got wet.

I really enjoyed the musical aspect of the play as well. There are many songs in Twelfth Night, but it's one thing to read the lyrics and quite another to hear them sung and performed by a very talented actor (he played Feste the Fool). The small band on top of the balcony over the stage also played interlude melodies with many of the transitions, which kept that sort of musical vibe alive from beginning to end. All the songs were simultaneously catchy and beautiful and had me swaying with the lilting folk melodies.

Once the play was done and it was time for curtain call, the band on the balcony struck up a lively dance tune, and all of the actors reappeared on the stage in a block, marching forward in time with the 3/4 meter. The next thing I knew, they began to dance an English folk dance! They all did an impeccable job and stayed very much together. Obviously, they had rehearsed it like crazy. I am such a sucker for folk dances (hello, Riverdance) and things like that, so it was incredibly fun to watch. Each line of actors danced to the front of the group, where they were able to take their bows. According to Jean, our Shakespeare professor, dancing signaled the end of a play in Shakespeare's time, since there was no curtain to draw over the stage. No matter if it was a tragedy or comedy, a dance like this was always the clue that the play was finished.

At this moment in time, something very exciting happened to me. Something that will stay with me forever. This was the moment that I made legitimate eye contact with none other than Mr. Stephen Fry himself. As the actors looked out over the audience to take their final bows, he looked over in my direction (I was about 20 feet from the stage at this time) and we made serious eye contact. I very nearly exploded with excitement. Now I can die a happy person. But I don't plan on dying anytime soon, so don't worry.

But wait, there's more! Tomorrow we are going to the symphony, where we will hear the Russian National Orchestra play works by Vaughan Williams and Prokofiev, who I both adore. It will do my musician heart good to listen to great music for once! And, on Saturday afternoon, we will return to the Globe once more for a production of Richard III, which I am BEYOND excited about. I loved reading that play, and I love the history behind the play (even though Shakespeare seriously tampered with historical fact), so it will be a great ending to this very cultured week! I can't wait.