Globe Theatre – William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan Playhouse

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My review of the Globe Theatre

Worth a visit? ★★★Good value? ★★☆Good for kids? ★☆☆

Reviewed by Craig Cross on 2 May 2020. Times and prices updated on 22 July 2026

I’m sitting here watching them assemble the set for Julius Caesar. The stage is very close to the crowd with three floors of balconied seats wrapped around a yard. I’ve decided to fork out for a decent seat in the middle balcony but it isn’t exactly comfy… it’s more like a plank of wood and it doesn’t have a back rest (unless you sit in the back row, but that will ruin your view). There’s a guy walking round selling red cushions for a quid – I definitely recommend buying one. Apparently that’s how they used to do it in Shakespeare’s day: touting out cushions before the show starts.

I can see another guy wandering around the yard with a big wicker basket of nuts and tubs of juice. There are a few people munching on doorstop-sized pork pies as well, holding polystyrene cups of hot coffee.

Photo: londondrum.com

The theatre is supposed to be a replica of the Elizabethan one that stood in Shakespeare’s day and it’s completely open to the weather – there are even a few pigeons flapping around the rafters, peering down at us from the thatched roof. Let’s hope the rain doesn’t come in because the actors don’t stop for anything – not even howling gales and downpours. We’ve already had a bit of a drizzle and the punters just tugged up their hoods and the staff carried on regardless, so that is something to be aware of if you stand in the yard: you will get wet. And you won’t get a refund!

Photo: londondrum.com

The yard is where the cheap people stand – it’s basically just a big concrete floor surrounding the stage. In Shakespeare’s day it would have been filled with wet mud and sawdust and people’s spit and p*ss, but these days it’s all solid concrete. You’ll have to stand up for the entire show down there, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other punters, and if you’ve got a little kid then trust me: they won’t be able to see a thing. So get there early and elbow your way to the front otherwise they’ll just be staring at someone’s back all day.

The stage rises up to about head height and you can just about rest your arms on the front edge if you raise them above your neck. Lots of people are doing that. The staff don’t seem to mind.

Watching a performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Okay… here we go. Lots of minstrels have just bounded out and are diddling some tunes on fiddles and flutes. There are a few doors dotted around the sides of the yard and all the musicians are parading in from those. In they come banging tasseled tambourines and it’s quite a May Day atmosphere all of a sudden. Then the cheers go up as the actors come in… straight through the packed-out yard and up onto the stage. Lots of shouting out: “Clear off you plebs!” and “Get out of the way!”

They’ve got a few stooges in the crowd cheering “Caesar! Caesar” to get everyone going and we’re all straining to see him waving and blowing kisses as he parades in through the punters. The yard has become part of the scenery and the crowd are part of the cast! Fanfares and trumpets and drums are playing up on the stage, and it makes me wonder why they don’t build all theatres like this – it’s brilliant!

The play is well under way now, and the actors are shouting out their lines from the stage. They didn’t have any lights and microphones in Shakespeare’s day and they don’t use any here either, but the seats are quite close to the stage so it’s all very clear and easy to hear – but hearing it and understanding it are two entirely different things. When I was younger I went through a phase of trying to educate myself by reading a few of his plays. That didn’t last long (about two weeks). I think I managed Hamlet and Macbeth and it’s every bit as impenetrable in the theatre as I remember it on paper. Shakespeare is hard enough to understand in a book, but when you’ve got actors firing it at you in a mad-man’s chunter it’s very difficult to keep up. And it hasn’t been Hollywood-ised or dumbed down for the tourists, either – this is the real thing, straight out of the Folio and onto the stage. If your English isn’t 100% then good luck trying to understand it.

The way they are involving the crowd has led to some very funny scenes – like when they had a Roman legion fighting for their lives on stage before storming off through the yard to the back of the theatre. A couple in the crowd were a bit slow to shift and got a deafening bellow of “MOVE!” at the point of a sword. They soon moved – very funny! They also had a scene where the rioters ripped out some entrails from a senator’s stomach. Bright red blood sprayed out across the crowd before they chucked the innards at their feet: cue lots of groaning and hearty laughter from the crowd.

As soon as the play ended the whole cast did the most unexpectedly boisterous dance I have ever seen. It was like New Year’s Eve and our last night on Earth all rolled into one – very good! It was a really good show, and I certainly enjoyed it.

Choosing the best place to sit in the theatre

Photo: londondrum.com

Now that the show is over I can give you a little piece of advice about the best place to sit. Try and sit in the mid-level gallery, where I was, but avoid the three bays closest to the stage because your view will be obscured by some supporting columns (so don’t go in blocks A, B, C, N, P or Q).

If you’re in the upper gallery then avoid the first four bays because the roof juts out across the top (so don’t go in blocks A, B, C, D, M, N, P or Q). And if you’re in the lower gallery avoid the first two bays (A, B, P and Q). If you stand in the yard then you’re free to walk around wherever you want.

I’ve ranked the Globe Theatre as ★10 in my top 25 London bucket list

It also appears in my how to spend one day in London itineraries and one week in London itinerary

What do you think? (7)

Ask a question, or share your experience of the Globe Theatre

Sam Love your humour. Thanks for the review. (reply)

Ann Hi, do they put on other plays apart from Shakespeare? I can’t stand Shakespeare but I would love to see a play here. (reply)

Craig Hi Ann. It’s mainly Shakespeare’s stuff but they do put on other plays as well. When you’re looking on their website make sure your play is being performed in the Globe Theatre itself, and not the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse next-door, because they put on a lot of the other stuff in there. (reply)

Sergio What’s the best place to sit. (reply)

Craig Hi Sergio, I recommend the mid-level gallery, but make sure you avoid the following blocks because they have restricted views: A, B, C, N, P and Q. If you go for the upper level then avoid A, B, C, D, M, N, P and Q. And if you book the lowest gallery avoid A, B, P and Q. (reply)

Carlos Do you get a discount if you want to watch a performance with The London Pass? (reply)

Craig Hi Carlos. No, it doesn’t include any shows. (reply)

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