London (Tuesday 2nd July 2013)

We made our plans for the day over breakfast and then headed out to discover more of London. The Tube took us from Victoria to Mansion House down near the river. After a short walk over Southwark Bridge we arrived at the modern day replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. This building was faithfully rebuilt as it was in he 17^th century in the mid-1990's as a monument to the Bard. As well as being that it is primarily a working theatre with his plays being performed daily throughout the year. We took the 12:30 guided tour to learn about the building and the place it held in the community of London of that time. The in front of the stage, where one would find the Stalls in a modern theatre today, is known ad The Yard and is where the poor folk would go to watch ad play. They would pay one penny to stand and watch. A thousand or so might be there for any play. The seats, undercover, would cost 2 pennies.

In keeping with the tradition the theatre offers standing room in The Yard for just five pounds. This was too good an offer to resist so we lined up in the Returns Queue to try our luck for the afternoon's presentation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Before too long a chap came along and offered us three tickets for The Yard. Total cost 15 pounds. The house was full including the 700 or so in The Yard which made for a spectacular sight. The plays are also performed in an authentic fashion with no lighting, no amplified sound, minimal props, and music provided on traditional instruments. The weather was looking a bit suspect (remember, it's an open-air theatre) but the odd light shower didn't dampen our enthusiasm. The actors really made the show, they were all exceptionally talented and flexible. Emily remarked after the show that what we had partaken in proved that Shakespeare was meant to be played to the masses, not just read and dissected by scholars and the like. It was the best three hours of entertainment I've had standing up, since the AFL shutdown Melbourne's suburban football grounds, robbing us of the opportunity to stand in “the outer” and enjoy “a show” standing shoulder to shoulder with friends and strangers alike.

We then hurried over the to West End to watch Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre in Earlham St near Covent Garden. Well, we did have enough time for a pint at the Crown and Anchor and a bargain feed of pasta/jacket potato at a tiny shop up the street from the theatre.

The seats afforded us a good view, even though they were in the Upper Circle. The show was bright and colourful and the music and signing excellent – a credit to Aussie Tim Minchin.. The many children in the show, including the lead character, are exceptionally talented and confident. To be honest, I've never been a fan of Roald Dahl but this show and the performances by the actors and musicians has probably swayed me a little bit.

It was just after 10:00pm and still not dark when the show finished. We caught the Tube back to Victoria and collapsed into bed after a thoroughly entertaining day.