St cedd's school visits the globe theatre
On Thursday 17 November, our Year 5 class visited The Globe Theatre in London. During the day, they experienced a range of activities, starting with a visit to the exhibition centre where they accessed many fascinating and interactive displays.
Some of the most favourite activities included visiting sound booths where famous actors could be heard performing different plays; operating the printing press which would have produced some of the Bard’s scripts and handling props and costumes used in plays performed at The Globe. They also watched some actors demonstrating how to perform battle scenes using a variety of weapons, which was very exciting and entertaining.
Later, the children had a tour of the theatre and were actually allowed to perform brief scenes from Macbeth onstage in front of a small - but appreciative! - audience of visitors. Finally, actors from the theatre gave a participatory workshop where everyone was encouraged to consider some of Shakespeare’s language and characterisations before acting different roles from Macbeth.
“I thought it was a really fun day. I learnt about how The Globe was made, what happened to it and the history of the theatre. I enjoyed the acting on the stage.” - Chloe Justier.
“We went backstage to learn the line ‘All hail Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter.’ We learnt about the trap doors - one led to heaven and one to hell. Do you know that the walls that look like marble are actually wooden? There is a French word that means ‘to trick the eye’.”- Charles Maloney-Charlton.
“I liked the exhilarating feeling of being on the stage at The Globe. So many people were watching me!” - Arabella Gardener-Thompson.
During the afternoon the children worked with Mrs Murfin, Head of Art, to sketch the exterior of the theatre on the banks of the River Thames. Despite inclement weather, everyone created stunning pictures of the amazing theatre building; many passers-by stopped to admire their work.
It was a most enjoyable day which deepened the children’s knowledge of theatre during the time of Shakespeare.