One of the highlights of the trip is the privilege to see a live performance of Shakespeare’s work. When the group and I found out that the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-upon-Avon were performing a rare adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part III (teased as the Wars of the Roses), I was shocked. I had to raise my expectations as I felt that there is a reason why this performance is rare.

I am typically not someone who would buy tickets to live theater (or as they spell it everywhere not named the US, theatre). I feel that this trip had the ability to change that, and it certainly lived up to the hype.

(Warning: mentions of gory scenes ahead)

After watching Wars of the Roses, my expectations seemed like a low bar. The RSC blew threw my expectations. The play featured some gory scenes as there is a lot of death involved. They did an impressive job making everything look realistic while using a lot of props and fake blood. What made the experience more interactive was that characters would enter the stage from the stands! As a bonus, my seat was right next to the stage! The show, actors, and plot were so good that I would watch this again (or any other play performed by RSC) in a heartbeat.

A few days later, in the Bankside area of London, Shakespeare’s Globe (a recreation of Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre) performed the comedy Much Ado About Nothing. It has been thought that standing tickets right in front the stage offered the best experience, but I have to disagree. I found it extremely difficult to pay attention to what was going on because it was too crowded for my liking in the area. If I had the opportunity to upgrade to a box seat (which I am certainly willing to when I return), my experience would be different.

I found it strange that the Globe crew decided to have a Shakespearean play set in the 1940s. I think they thought this was best so that it would make it easier for the audience to understand the jokes. By the way, the cast also interacted with the audience quite a bit here as well, pointing at random spectators in front of the stage. The show made everyone laugh at some point.

I must say that based on watching a history play and a comedy play by Shakespeare, I think the history play was much better. Even though the background was difficult to interpret at first, there seemed to be a myriad of action between fights, death, and arguing. I’m still a fan of comedy- but my experience watching a comedy play was unfortunately hampered by my experience at the venue. The history plays also seemed to have themes relevant to modern politics, which should be important to everyone, regardless of major.

Overall, after the two weeks in England, I must say that Shakespeare is a god. He is everywhere and people do not realize it. Everything on TV, the news, even real life, relate back to Shakespeare in some way. A lot of the more famous quotes and saying go back to Shakespeare. I’ll leave this post with a well-known quote from Hamlet: “To be or not to be, that is the question”