Review of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London
My wife and I are in our late 70s. We are fit for our age and don’t have hearing difficulties. We were greatly looking forward to seeing Twelfth Night at the Globe and were impressed by the authenticity of the stage and the Elizabethan seating/standing arrangements. But we were quickly disillusioned as soon as the show started as whenever an actor turned away from us, we just could not hear the dialogue. The acoustics are terrible. We were seated as opposed to standing and it became obvious that those standing very close to the stage had by far the best experience. Several families around us left early and after an hour, we left too. It was a great disappointment and a considerable waste of money. It would be easily solved by using appropriate technology to do what most theatres do today to allow everyone to hear what is being said. Being traditional is fine, but only if it works!
