Savouring absolute freedom for the first time in my life, my elder son added spice to it by inviting me over for a vacation in England. The six months I spent there had me visiting places of interest I had been familiar with only through books and the media. This is how I was treated to a Sunday matinee show of As You Like It at the Globe Theatre in Southwark by a close friend domiciled there. The 19th of July, 1998, became an unforgettable day for me as that particular experience turned out to be the most impressionable event of that vacation.

Setting out together from Acacia Avenue in Wembley and parking the car at the Edgeware Shopping Complex, we took the Tube to Mansion House Station. Walking down Canon Street and turning into Queens Street we crossed Southwark Bridge and down to the Globe Theatre, to find that many of our ‘tube-mates’ had also been bound for the same destination.

The first item on our itinerary was, naturally, to join the long queue outside the ‘Ladies Room’, which had us rushing to get to our seats in time thereby foregoing the purchase of a souvenier.

Entering the main theatre the first impact on my senses was the refreshing fragrance of raw untreated timber. Redolent of an English Spring/Summer, it was the perfect setting for the evening ahead. (I had noticed this same scent in the Studio of Winston Churchill, though not in the main house, when I had toured his home Chartwell a few weeks earlier.)

Roughly hewn pillars and rafters of raw wood, complete with cracks and knots, formed the basic structure of this replica of the original Globe Theatre of Shakespeare’s time which had burned down and rebuilt on later occasions. This the final effort was open to theatre-goers only in 1996 and was officially opened to the public in 1997. Watching the proceedings on TV then, how little I dreamed that I would be there in person one day.

The open air circular structure of tiered seats encircled a central arena. Row upon row of permanently fixed sparse wooden benches reached up from ground level right up to the high roof which protected only the stage and the seated audience. The ‘groundlings’ standing in the open arena were exposed to the elements throughout the show, which apparently affected them little judging from their robust participation in the show which only served to enliven their enjoyment instead of dampening their enthusiasm.

The stage was stark, with few props and no curtain; a miniature balcony and three entrances/exits being the only embellishments. The exits and entrances of the players were so perfectly timed and executed that the exit of actors from the side doors went unnoticed by the rivetting entrance of the characters in the next scene. This smooth flow of one scene into the next ensured an uninterrupted continuity of the main storyline with only a few essential interruptions in between. No curtain drops; no twiddling of thumbs; no waste of time.

The play was excellently cast and I felt that Shakespeare himself could not have handled it better. Entrances were made from both on and off stage, with troubadors trooping in through the standing audience etc. in true folk theatre tradition. Audience involvement was very much in evidence... a wrestling match begun on stage ended among the audience below. Choreographed on the Iines of the then popular TV series, On The Mat it had some ‘groundlings’ also actively taking part in the action!

Raucous ribaldry with double-meaning phrases and sly innuendos to current issues like homosexuality were booed at good naturedly by a highly appreciative set of ‘standees’ who appeared to be mainly University students.

A petite golden haired demure, Rosalind, transformed herself miraculously into a roisterous ‘Ganymede’ romping energetically all over the stage. Once forgetting the male role she had taken upon herself, she rushed up to Orlando pulling down her breeches in her haste....along with her own modern frilly pantis to deliberately expose her well rounded buttocks to the audience!

The ‘Fool’ was a genuine down-to-earth fool whose antics were delightful to watch. Impatiently chasing his middle-aged buxom lady-love to her bed chamber, he clambered up the ladder shedding his clothes item by item and flinging them all over the stage...to finally vault over the balcony railings clad only in his underwear!

When Orlando called out to ‘Ganymede’ genuinely believing him to be a male, to "come and associate with me closer to get to know you better", the ‘groundlings’ responded with a low long drawn-out hiss that sounded similar to our own "Chee-e-e", at the implied ‘gay’ reference.

Then at recess time , the ‘Fool’ suddenly appeared on the balcony and roared.... "Ten minutes! Ten minutes is all you get. Go thou now ... or forever hold thy piece!!"

The musicians had been positioned among the audience and tranquil music from instruments of a by-gone era enhanced the authenticity on the setting. During the forest scenes a bird kept trilling from different spots behind us making the audience squirm around in their seats trying to identify the source.

This was real theatre. The minimal use of props encouraged the audience to activate their imagination and the direct participation of the audience, such a vital ingredient in folk theatre, resurrected the world of Shakespeare to us there then in the grip of the 20th century.

The lively play that had entrapped me all evening had been marvellously rumbustious with its raw earthy humour and one could easily understand why Shakespeare’s plays had drawn such crowds in his time. Here was entertainment at its best, uninhibited enjoyment with direct involvement by people seeking distraction from the mundanity in their lives. (The present day Bollywood films dole out the same emotional therapy.) Although this particular show had been a popular comedy any solemn tragedy staged in this setting would have had the same dramatic effect.

Our seats 7 and 8 of Row D in the Middle Gallery were airy and not uncomfortable though, rough. We noticed an added advantage, the availability of cushions on hire for the duration of the show.

Exhilarated by such a rewarding experience we joined the snaking Ladies’ queue once more and were barely in time for the homeward Tube ride wondering why there had been lengthy queues only outside the Ladies’ and not the Gents’!