"What is done, is done."

Mom and I attended Shakespeare's Globe for a matinee showing of Macbeth. Redesigned and built in the nineties, the new Globe was built as Shakespeare wanted it: an open air, round building with good acoustics.

the exterior of the Globe.

No microphones or audio system was used; instruments such as a flute and bagpipes played music and sound effects. A large group of "groundlings" stood at the base of the stage to watch the performance, and others, such as Mom and me, watched from benches on balconies surrounding the stage.

inside the Globe.

Typically, the area surrounding the stage is open for standing room; however, for the Macbeth production, the director decided to engage the audience a bit more. A black canvas was spread from the stage out with slits cut in for people's heads. In this way, the people standing in the crowd were a bit like the heads floating around hell in Dante's Divine Comedy. Throughout the play, a few of the  characters would pop out of the canvas to speak their lines, etc.

For us higher class people on the balcony, the "groundlings" were quite entertaining before the show, including this man shown below, who took a few minutes trying to work out how to fit his book and head in the same hole.

Although very bloody, the cast brought Shakespeare's work to life. It was very believable and compared well to what we think modern entertainment should be - granted without the special effects and elaborate stage changes. There were many, many differences between this show and the one we saw last night, but we enjoyed both very much.

Three hours after the show began, we stretched our stiff legs by walking to St. Paul's for the choral evensong. The beautiful choir enchanted us by singing hymns and psalms, while we viewed the interior of the church for free. Sorry I didn't get any photos; I didn't want to be disrespectful of the service. It is a beautiful church with huge mosaic ceilings and stained glass behind the altar.

front of St. Paul's Cathedral - fourth largest church in Europe.

From the evensong devotion, we headed for our afternoon tea and coffee - this is becoming a habit - and later headed toward Harrod's, London's huge department store. We browsed for awhile, but must be too tight on our money, as nothing caught our eyes. From there, we took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus and walked up Regent Street to Oxford Circus. This is also a major shopping district, but the shops were closed. We began wandering through east of Regent Street into Soho. Here we found many small streets lined with pubs and restaurants. The patrons, ranging from ages 20 to 65, gathered around the doors of the bars with beers in hand. I am sure most of the Londoners are happy to finally be outside now that the temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties.

We stopped at a Rick Steve's recommended restaurant that served French cuisine. The restaurant was on a tiny side street...

see the people outside of the pubs?

I had a small plate consisting of a poached egg, Italian ham, and avocado on toasted sourdough bread, while Mom had pasta stuffed with goat cheese, dressed with olive oil and asparagus and green peas. For desert we split an orange and almond cake with a delicious cream. Yum. (You know I had to take a photo of it.)

Tomorrow is Mom's last day! She is flying back home on Friday, so we are going to make the most of it! We hope to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, tour the National Gallery, and visit Westminster Abby. It will be a busy day!