What happens when you stop treating Shakespeare as individual plays and start treating him as one long story?

Seven years ago, I spent an entire day at Shakespeare’s Globe watching Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V.

I could tell you about the performances, the directorial choices and the staging, but my younger self already did that. That’s what the original post is for.

What interests me now is what I still remember.

Firstly, what a privilege it was to see the trilogy in a single day. Shakespeare’s original audiences would never have experienced these plays like this. They saw one play at a time, then headed home before curfew. Seeing Hal’s story unfold almost without interruption transformed three separate histories into one epic coming-of-age story. His journey from wayward prince to Henry V felt less like three instalments and more like a single, sweeping narrative.

I spent much of the day thinking about the groundlings. And this is what I return to today.

Watching Shakespeare from the yard is much closer to standing on the football terraces than sitting in hospitality. You’re part of the performance as much as you’re watching it: shoulder to shoulder with strangers, constantly shifting for a better view, laughing together, reacting together. The audience becomes another member of the company.

But despite the supposedly impenetrable language, people around me from every imaginable background laughed instinctively, gasped at the right moments, and threw themselves into the experience. Shakespeare didn’t feel remote or academic. He felt gloriously alive.

Give me a time machine, and that’s exactly where I’d go. 

Not to a private box, nor even to the comfort of the indoor Blackfriars Theatre, but to the yard of the Globe, watching Shakespeare’s company work their magic with little more than words, actors, and an audience willing to meet them halfway.

In fact, I often used to begin lessons with the words, ‘let’s go back to 1592’ …

Back in 2019, I was well placed to write about individual performances, directorial decisions, and the countless little details that make one production different from another. 

I could name names, point fingers where necessary, and give a small personal anecdote about encountering a performer after it was all over.  That’s why I’ve always believed it’s worth writing these things down while they’re still fresh.

Time has quietly sanded away many of those details.

What it hasn’t taken is the feeling.

I can’t remember every performance from that remarkable day. But I remember exactly what it felt like to spend twelve hours in Shakespeare’s company, watching one extraordinary story unfold.

For the details, my 2019 self is a much better guide than I am today.

So that’ why I’m offering it to you as this week’s ‘From The Archives’ post.

Trilogy Day at The Globe: 03 Aug 2019

Join the conversation: tell me about your experiences of visiting Shakespeare’s Globe