The Covid Diaries 61: Globe Theatre Guided Tour

A review of a recent guided tour of the Globe. In which I can celebrate the Bard’s birthday by sharing this in-person experience with you! We are edging ever closer to live theatre performances, and in the meantime this tour is fun and informative.

Back Inside A Theatre!

I am such a proponent of booking every in-person experience I can get my hands on right now. The recent changes to lockdown regulations have seen some interesting things pop up; I have enjoyed a tour of the Charterhouse, and an outdoor immersive theatrical experience in recent weeks. Not to mention some of the commercial galleries I have been to.

Today we are taking a look at something I had done before, but not for about 10 years – certainly not during Covid times. As the title and the photos you’ve seen already suggest, this is a tour of the Globe theatre. I am excited that the Globe have announced their reopening season (fingers and toes crossed it can go ahead). I was equally excited when I saw that as a prelude to live performances, they are offering guided tours of the theatre. The fact that it’s outdoors has helped them to do this as they can welcome more people safely, and luckily we had good weather on the day that we had booked. So let’s take a closer look!

The Globe Theatre – Historic And Modern

I don’t know whether a guided tour of the Globe would normally have more indoor components, but it didn’t feel like anything was lacking. We started outside, moved into the Yard, then upstairs, as our guide explained different aspects of the theatre. The content was very informative as well as interesting – we covered the historic Globe and other Early Modern theatres; Sam Wanamaker’s vision for a recreation of a Shakespearean theatre; the mechanics of the building in terms of materials, styles, acoustics, blending tradition with modern safety standards and so on; and how the Globe is used by companies around the world for their performances.

In hindsight, I think there is no more perfect way to set yourself up for attending a performance at the Globe than to do one of these tours. It reminded me of things I probably once knew but had forgotten, and will make my experience much richer when I can finally attend. And what is really special is that tours go ahead regardless of the rehearsal schedule. For us, this allowed a behind-the-scenes peek at a singing rehearsal for an upcoming production. Our guide was a pro at keeping our attention with interesting facts and insights despite all that was going on around us.

So if you have the opportunity, do book. I hope that this is merely a stepping stone to a fuller reopening. But if the last year has taught us anything, it’s that we have to take opportunities where we can. A Globe Tour is fun and interesting, family friendly, and helps to support the theatre as they await a return to something closer to normal.

On its own merits: 3.5/5
Implementing Covid rules: 4/5

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