University of Portsmouth: First Year Diary

October 2017 - Part 2: Hamlet and King Lear

This month, I have been to see two Shakespeare plays, one an encore presentation of a National Theatre Live production of Hamlet, with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the other, King Lear, was a live performance at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Both were incredible experiences, especially going to the Globe, as although I have been there before on a tour, I had never seen a show there before, and I didn't realise that they put their movable raised wheelchair platform right up against the front of the stage, so that I could see the action unfolding right in front of me without the heads and bodies of other audience numbers obstructing my view, as per usual. The visit to the Globe also felt as though it was an authentic experience because it rained and we all got wet. As most of you probably know, the Globe was rebuilt as close to the original plans as possible, in the material they used including thatch, but there is no roof, so we were at the mercy of the elements. It was a good experience that I'm glad I took, but I can't say that I understood the plane, King Lear, very well. The fact that it was live right in front of us was a sight to behold though.
The difference between the two trips was that the Globe was an organised trip paid for by the University, but we were also recommended to go and see Hamlet if we wanted to, so I chose to. I understood that play a bit better, if for nothing else but the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch was in the title role of Hamlet and anything with him in it is automatically great, in my opinion.
In both instances I felt cultured, but I also felt the same time that I wasn't intellectual enough to understand, but I do understand that I can't understand everything to the same degree. So due to the fact that we will hardly discuss Shakespeare at University anyway, at least this year, I am content with the amount I understood of both plays and they entertained me enough but I enjoyed them both.