SIGHTS IN LONDON - London 2015 - page 124

▲ Millennium Bridge
The pedestrian bridge links St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern across the Thames.
This is London's first new bridge in a century. When it opened, the $25 million bridge
wiggled when people walked on it, so it promptly closed for repairs; 20 months and $8
million later, it reopened. Nicknamed the “blade of light” for its sleek minimalist design
(370 yards long, four yards wide, stainless steel with teak planks), its clever aerodynamic
handrails deflect wind over the heads of pedestrians.
▲▲▲ Shakespeare's Globe
This replica of the original Globe Theatre was built, half-timbered and thatched, as it was
in Shakespeare's time. (This is the first thatched roof constructed in London since they
were outlawed after the Great Fire of 1666.) The Globe originally accommodated 2,200
seated and another 1,000 standing. Today, slightly smaller and leaving space for reason-
able aisles, the theater holds 800 seated and 600 groundlings. Its promoters brag that the
theater melds “the three A's”—actors, audience, and architecture—with each contributing
to the play. The working theater hosts authentic performances of Shakespeare's plays with
actors in period costumes, modern interpretations of his works, and some works by other
playwrights. For details on attending a play, see here .
The Globe complex has four parts: the Globe theater itself, the box office, a museum
(called the Exhibition), and the new Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. This indoor Jacobean
theater, which is attached to the back of the Globe complex, allows performances to
continue through the winter. The horseshoe-shaped venue, seating fewer than 350, uses
authentic candle-lighting for period performances. The repertoire focuses less on
Shakespeare and more on the work of his contemporaries (Jonson, Marlow, Fletcher), as
well as concerts. (For details on getting tickets, see here . )
Cost: £ 13.50 ticket (good all day) includes Exhibition, audioguide, and 40-minute
tour of the Globe; when theater is in use, you can tour the Exhibition only for £ 10.
Hours: The complex is open daily 9:00-17:00. Tours start every 30 minutes; during
Globe theater season (late April-early Oct), last tour Mon at 17:00, Tue-Sat at 12:30,
Sun at 11:30; located on the South Bank directly across Thames over Southwark Bridge
from St. Paul's, Tube: Mansion House or London Bridge plus a 10-minute walk; tel. 020/
7902-1400, box office tel. [phone], www.shakespearesglobe.com .
Visiting the Globe: You browse on your own in the Exhibition (with the included au-
dioguide) through displays of Elizabethan-era costumes and makeup, music, script-print-
ing, and special effects (the displays change). There are early folios and objects that were
dug up on site. Videos and scale models help put Shakespearean theater within the context
of the times. (The Globe opened one year after England mastered the seas by defeating the