Merry Wives of Windsor

 got home at 11:30 last night. I fell asleep on the Bakerloo Line tube two stops before mine at Harlesden and woke up two stops after in Wembley Central; I wasn't able to get off there, and had to turn around at Wembley North. 
But that was because I went to Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor." At the Globe Theater. In London. As a groundling. Standing for two and a half hours. It's open-air.
Gawd, it was wonderful.
And hysterical.
And schlocky.
And slapstick.
And cornball.
And fun.
And surprising.
And . . .
And . . .
And. . . .
Falstaff walks to front of stage carrying a shoe. He relates how the basket he was rolled out of the house in was dumped into the Thames. Then he pours water out of his shoe . . .
And it ends with the cast doing a Charleston to the hot music of the band.
Shakespeare's groundlings paid a penny to get inside. This groundling paid five pounds. That's probably much of a sameness. The twenty-three-pound seats were sold out; the remainders went up to forty-five.
I'm exploring a season ticket.
I want to go again.
I will go again.
I want to take everyone I know. For sure to the comedies. They're staging "Henry IV" in two parts this season. On single days. At 2:PM and at 7:30. I guess you can go to the 2:PM performance, then get a full-body massage, grab a burger, and then show up for the 7:30 show. That one's gonna be tough.
The company are also putting on "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Henry V." 
So, uh, yeah. I'll be there.
My cleverly-narrated video gives an idea of the noise level before the action starts, so you'll here why I'm going to buy a lavalier mic. I also discovered that I can't do a voiced video with a selfie stick. My learning curve is asymptotic. The 
The Dixieland band is three pieces: sax, tuba, trumpet, and they glue many of the scenes together. They also parade outside the house before the show. The gentleman with the sandwich boards wandered the crowds before the show started as did a lady advertising a leg-covering cream that preceded nylon stockings. I didn't get photos of her, though.
I want to put together small Apache-raiding-party-sized groups to do lightning tours of the places I have already seen over here. Probably start them next spring. Give you time to stack your pennies up.
This stuff is too rich and filling and satisfying to miss.

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