Henry V, all of us

We're off to the Globe...

...for the first time this season. I'm not big on ley lines and mystic stuff, but I get excited by the Globe. It isn't like going to the theatre. There's more of a buzz to it. More like going to a gig at the Marquee or 100 Club or The Nashville during the 70's. There's an underlying sense that something special is about to unfold. Without doubt the 700 standing groundlings are a big part of things. Having been one, for King Lear, for Midsummer Night's Dream, and for Romeo and Juliet, without shadow of doubt, it affords the best, most fantastic view of the stage; and it is the best value five quid you can spend without venturing abroad. On top of all that, it's so laid back, too. Bag of chips? Can of lager? Pack of cheese and onion sarnies you knocked up this morning? Flask of Bovril? Bring it in. You're here to enjoy yourself. Very different to the local multiscreen fleapit where the sweetie police turn all KGB if there's a sighting of an ASDA bag with some Revels and a Ribena in it.

MiB

We're meeting MiB (K and J) for lunch. As Henry V kicks off at one o'clock, this may be squeezing in one thing too many, and in any case (eating) time is going to be tight, ruling out starters (which I'm not happy about) and pudding (a cup of coffee for me, so I'm not so bothered about that), but mostly meaning that MiB will have a two hour return commute for a forty-minute quick lunch. Be good the see them, though, and I'll be doing my best to sell them the £5 standing option followed by a lift home.

K, no J

Just K for lunch, as J was busy back at home. Worked out very well. Arrived in time for some spectacular vivid green queen olives, and roast tomatoes, then garlic bread and a very good coleslaw. Pizza and pasta all round, picked up a standing ticket (MM did the first half, I did the second), then dropped J back to Beckton.

Henry V

This was my English literature O-level (what GCSE was in the olden days) Shakespeare. Unfortunately I was saddled with a teacher who could suck the joy out of a American Baptist congregation at peak joy level, and still have enough joy-sucking capacity to deal with all of Happy-Clappy-ville, Elation City, USA, on international joy day, when the Uni students dissolved buckets of extasy pills in the water supply. Suck all the joy out of it she duly did. She detested kids of school age. Apart from me. She hated and despised me with a vengeance.

How can you suck the joy out of a work of genius like Henry V? It's beautiful, well-paced, funny, and full of brilliant characters. Dominic Dromgoole knows the plays and this theatre inside out. He knows how to squeeze every drop from the cast and exactly how to play to the Globe audience. Jamie Parker was fantastic as the king, no doubt drawing on the experience of having played the Prince in Henry IV Parts 1 & 2.

BLISS, K, MM and TBG(17) were unanimous, a hit. Now, having seen it, I might read the reviews.