okay but if you’re ever in london and you have the chance to see a shakespeare play performed at the globe theatre itself DO IT even if you don’t think you’d dig shakespeare
if you need convincing here are a few highlights from when my family and i went to see the official globe theatre production of a midsummer night’s dream:
- they cast helena as a guy (helenus), first of all. they took a straight love square between two girls and two guys and made it a love square between a girl and three guys, only one of which was white. both sets of couples get happy endings and it’s fuckin adorable
- it was reimagined with an indian setting
- puck had a water pistol and kept shooting at the audience
- historical accuracy?? who cares everyone’s gonna dress like a modern hipster teenager
- bottom and his acting troupe sung bon jovi
- oh yeah also the acting troupe were reimagined as globe theatre employees with delusions of acting skills
- hermia and helenus sung single ladies by beyonce
- innuendos. innuendoes everywhere
- oberon walked onstage for the fight between oberon and titania drunk with a half-empty bottle of schweppes
- lysander spent a significant length of time in the play wandering around in just boxers and a leather jacket
- oberon made out with puck
- demetrius dabbed
I went to see Romeo and Juliet and can confirm, they’re lit as fuck
- Everyone was a Juggalo.
- Except Romeo, who managed to straddle the line between being a juggalo and also being extremely emo
- Seriously forget historical accuracy here too, everyone was in rave gear and clown makeup the entire goddamn production.
- During the party scene, which was obviously a rave, Lord Capulet broke up the rave to do a full cast (and audience) karaoke rendition of YMCA
- Lord Capulet was also the only one sporting a costume, which was a T-Rex costume, naturally
- Speaking of Lord Capulet, he was also going around with something on leash – I say something, because to this day, it’s a conscientious topic of debate.
- Either a), Lord Capulet had a dog for absolutely no reason, with the express purpose of letting it piss on the audience, OR,
- b) Lord Capulet had a live-in petplay sub who he walked around on a BDSM harness, and the sub also happened to piss on everyone
- either way the front of the pit got sprayed with fake piss every time Lord Capulet was on stage.
- Yes even during the rave.
- This is Shakespeare of course there were innuendos.
- A female Mercutio, with what I think was a heavily implied past (or current) relationship with Romeo
- A surprising amount of grinding on stage
- The interlude was also a rave, obviously.
Mercutio was the best thing about the play