The British Museum and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre by Jessica Stephens

In 1822, after studying the Rosetta Stone and other ancient Egyptian writings, Jean-François Champollion was able to decipher heiroglyphs. The Elgin marbles were a bit more of a trick to find since upon hearing the word marbles, the majority of us thought of the tiny round marbles from our childhood. After asking a few of the staff members to point us in the right direction, we entered a large room filled from end to end with marvelous sculptures made out of , you guessed it, marble. Instantly, there was no longer a question as to what we were looking for and the amazement took over as we looked upon them. The sculptures were so breathtaking that it was clear we had made it to the right place.

This large collection was a part of the Parthenon in Athens and has been on display in the British Museum since 1817. The building was altered and damaged over the years due to its many uses. It was originally built as a temple dedicated to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, war and crafts. Later it became a church of the Virgin Mary of Athenians, a mosque, and then an archeological ruin after a gunpowder explosion damaged a large majority of the remaining marbles while the city was under siege. The existing marbles can be found in museums in 6 different countries with the majorities in Athens and London.

After we left the museum we headed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where we were to see a showing of the play Macbeth. This modern recreation of the Globe Theatre was built in 1997. The original, built in 1599, was lost to a fire on June 13, 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII as the result of a stage cannon firing and catching the thatched roof aflame. It was later replaced in June 1614 on the same site but was closed in 1642 because of an ordinance by the Puritan-led English Parliament that put an end to all stage plays in theatres. The theatre was later destroyed, in 1644, by the Puritans.

Our first glimpse into the world of Shakespeare came as three hag-like witches began wandering throughout (and under) the crowd in the standing-room only area. Those “lucky” enough to be in this area were covered from the shoulders down by a quite curious black tarp that allowed only their heads to poke through so as they could see nothing of what was going on below. It was clear as to where the witches were slithering about beneath the tarp by the squeals and squirming of the audience. Through these strategically placed holes in the tarp and also the stage arose bloody, writhing men who were clearly in helpless agony. The one occupying the opening at center stage was pulled out by the first of the main characters, thus beginning the show and bringing the audience to silence. The graphic and rather grim show left some of us fighting back the tears and watching the bumps rise on our arms in the 75 degree weather. Throughout the majority, the audience was for the most part speechless, though at moments we were left laughing quite audibly at the humorous moments that relieved us of some of the anguish being portrayed on stage.

Once the show had finished and the standing ovation had left my hands feeling numb, we were all headed to meet up when I was lucky enough to come across the actor who provided the majority of the comedic relief throughout the play. He was nice enough to allow me to have my picture with him to keep as a reminder of this once in a lifetime chance of seeing Macbeth at the Globe Theatre.

We set out, walking along the river enjoying sights including Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye and some rather interesting street performers.
Dinner was had and our ride back on the Tube was much easier on the return trip. My last evening was spent reminiscing about the trip and putting together the jig-saw puzzle of souvenirs that had to somehow fit into my suitcase. While the realization of going home brought some relief to my feelings of nostalgia, it was very much bittersweet. This trip has opened up my eyes to a new culture and my own willingness to learn, and has left me undoubtedly planning a return visit.

We took the London Underground, which is known as “The Tube,” to get to the theatre. Sounds pretty simple right? Well, after catching a few trains to and fro, we managed to find the right one and it was smooth sailing after that. Though I have to admit, I was sweating at the thought of missing what was to me the most awe-inspiring experience of the trip. Once off of the tube we hightailed it by foot to the theatre, catching a quick glimpse of the London Bridge and arriving with a few moments to spare and allow us to catch our breaths before the performance began. As we filed into the rows and looked upon the grandeur of this building that represented so much history in not only the theatrical world but also the culture of the city, it was apparent how fortunate we were to be occupying those seats.

Day 11 June 22, 2010

We started off our last full day in London by walking to the British Museum. Though we only had a short while there, we were able to see many truly amazing artifacts thanks to a sort of “treasure hunt” we were sent on. This allowed us to see and learn about artifacts from Egypt all the way to Mesopotamia. Among the relics that we saw, two of the most fascinating were the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. The Rosetta Stone was amazing to see. It was found in the year 1799 but carved 196 B.C.. It was written using three different scripts and in two different languages.