Shakespeare’s Globe

On Monday Year 4 visited The Globe to take part in a lively action workshop and a tour of Shakespeare’s theatre!

When we arrived we met our lovely tour guide Kate and we shared what we have been learning about the Tudors and William Shakespeare this term.

We learnt that the flag at the outside the theatre told everyone the genre (red for comedy, black for tragedy and white for history) of the play being performed that day because many people could not read. People came to Southwark from the City of London as it was a popular place of entertainment where the rules about what people could do and what could be performed were more relaxed. We also discussed the materials the Globe is made out of (wattle, daub, timber and thatch) and how the company who rebuilt the Globe in 1997 had to get special permission to build a wooden structure as these were banned after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The class then went inside one of the towers to have a look at the entire theatre. We learnt about design features such as the heavens above the stage and how they represented fate which was a popular idea during the Tudor times which is featured in many of Shakespeare’s plays including Macbeth. We also heard about how the Tudors created special effects such as thunder by rolling cannon balls across the balcony above the stage as well as using canons and fireworks.

Kate told us about why the Globe was so important to Tudors from all walks of life. Everyone, both rich and poor came to the Globe but where they sat, or stood, was determined by how rich they were. We learnt that the poorest people (the groundlings) stood in the pit and rich people sat in the balconies behind they stage so everyone would see them in their finery! Some people were even known to sit right on the stage with the actors!

After our tour we visited the Shakespeare Company’s rehearsal studios where we played drama games and explored the opening of Macbeth through our use of voice and gesture to convey emotion.

Before the end of the trip we had our lunch at the Tate Modern because it was raining! It was very fun to sit in the huge boiler room and eat our lunch…

Thank you to the SVPA for funding our trip to the Globe and the parents who came to help us get there and back safely! 

What did you learn during our visit to the Globe?