My first Shakespeare play at the Globe was worth the uncomfortable seat

My first Shakespeare play at the Globe was expensive, uncomfortable and really good. I spent about three hours perched on a wooden seat, even with the cushion I’d paid extra for. I’d go again. The experience was different enough from the other theatre trips I’d done to make the discomfort worth it.

After nine years living in the UK, I’d finally booked a visit with a couple of friends. The 2025 programme had Romeo and Juliet, which I’d studied at school in Canada, probably around grade nine or ten. I knew the story, and this production was doing it as a Western. That was as much as I wanted to know beforehand.

A little history before the show

I’d come into London early, so before brunch we went to find the site of the original Globe. It was about four minutes down the road, and what greeted us was a car park and flats. There were a couple of plaques and a fence, but not a huge amount to look at. I found that absolutely wild.

People kept coming past to take photos while everyone else was just getting on with living there. To me, that summed up something I kept seeing in London: a place with this much history was also somebody’s completely ordinary day-to-day home. My little Canadian brain couldn’t quite handle the idea of having a flat at the original Globe site.

We also went looking for a Shakespeare statue nearby, but I’d forgotten it was Sunday and the cathedral was in use. We were allowed a quick look inside, without filming or taking photographs. Then it was time for brunch at The Table Cafe, which I’d never heard of before. It was busy, and about a six-minute walk from the theatre, so it worked well for the day.

Good seats still meant perching

At the time, I thought my theatre ticket was somewhere around £71 to £73. I wasn’t quite consistent about the amount, but I was consistent about thinking it wasn’t cheap. When my mum had visited the previous Christmas, we’d gone to the West End on discounted tickets I’d booked early, which I remembered being about £50 each.

This time I’d splurged on good seats in the front row of the upper tier, plus a cushion for about £3. There were much cheaper standing tickets, but I couldn’t face standing for roughly three hours. I don’t even like standing at a concert. This could have been a once-in-a-lifetime visit, although I hoped it wouldn’t be, so I wanted a seat.

What I hadn’t appreciated was how little seat there was. It felt about half the size of what I’d call a normal seat, and I was perched for the whole performance. The cushion helped, but not much. We had an intermission in the middle, and I enjoyed the play, but I was uncomfortable throughout. That’s part of my verdict, even though I thought people should see a show there.

Romeo and Juliet as a Western worked

The dialogue was classic Shakespeare, with Western costumes and a very short hoedown added. There were guns and gunfights, complete with the gunpowder sounds. I thought the Western element worked really well, and all the cast were good. Mercutio stood out in particular.

I was also surprised by how funny I found it. The actors’ mannerisms, the way they delivered the lines and their presence made me laugh. For me, that helped keep it from feeling boring. I already knew Romeo and Juliet from school, but this was a performance I really enjoyed watching.

The set was much more minimal than anything else I’d seen. It was basically a flat stage with a couple of chairs. What caught my attention instead was how close the performers were to the audience. People standing below had their arms on the stage, leaning against it, and the actors interacted with them.

At points the actors were actually in the audience, touching people, pointing at people and involving them. I’d seen performers go into the aisles at other theatres, but this felt much more intimate. Between that interaction and the roof being open to the air, the Globe offered something different from the West End shows I’d been to.

Worth it, with an uncomfortable seat

For me, the ticket was worth it for the experience, particularly with my interest in the history and in seeing Shakespeare there. I thought I could have gone to the West End for less, but it wouldn’t have given me that particular combination of the Globe, the open air and the audience interaction. I’d choose Shakespeare again rather than another kind of show because that connection was part of what excited me.

A matinee also suited me because I didn’t live in London and had a long journey home. We could have brunch, see the show, then go for drinks and snacks before heading back, instead of starting a performance at seven in the evening. The weather held too, despite the rain I’d worried about earlier. I really liked the day. I’d just go into the next visit knowing that even a paid seat and cushion didn’t mean I’d be sitting comfortably.

Watch my first Shakespeare play at the Globe was worth the uncomfortable seat in the original video.