By James Hadley in London

Last time I was in London - ten years ago - the Globe Theatre was still being constructed. I went on a tour of this most famous of theatrical reconstructions and was struck by the energy of the space. It wasn't hugely far from completion, and already there was a really positive atmosphere - and a sense of seeing a dream fulfilled. I couldn't help wondering what would it be like to see a show at the Globe?By James Hadley in London

Last time I was in London - ten years ago - the Globe Theatre was still being constructed. I went on a tour of this most famous of theatrical reconstructions and was struck by the energy of the space. It wasn't hugely far from completion, and already there was a really positive atmosphere - and a sense of seeing a dream fulfilled. I couldn't help wondering what would it be like to see a show at the Globe?Visiting the thriving Globe Theatre today is a strong argument for the way theatre can potentially lead to economic regeneration of an area. I think the area of the South Bank around the Globe used to be called Bankside, and last time I walked along there it was a quiet, grey, almost industrial area. Now it's as thriving as any section of the Thames' South Bank in central London - with bars, restaurants and other tourist attractions - and the Globe has been central to the area's reinvention. It's now on most visitors' 'must see list' - and rightly so. Most performances completely sell out it would seem - but the 700 'groundling' tickets, standing in the pit, can usually be bought right up to the day of performance - and are a bargain at just £5 (NZ$13).

Like most theatre types, I've seen my fair share of Shakespearean productions - including the ones which are a feat of endurance to sit through! Attending a show at the Globe Theatre for the first time - of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', directed by Christopher Luscombe - was like seeing a Shakespearean play for the very first time. Sometimes standing to view a show diminishes your enjoyment (as I'm finding from standing at the back for sold-out shows at the National Theatre). Not so when you're a groundling, standing in the Globe, as my friends insisted we had to for our first Globe experience. A little like in Kabuki theatre, the actors make good use of walkways that take them out among the standing audience, and many make entrances and exits from among the groundlings. There's something about this nearness to the actors that is refreshing - too often contemporary performers seem as remote from the audience as actors in a film. Here you literally feel you can rub shoulders with them. And your closeness to other audience standing around you makes audience responses all the more infectious.

It really does feel like you've travelled back in time - particularly when the production is in costumes from Shakespeare's period, as was the case with this production. This year's season also featured a contemporary UK play in modern dress for the first time, but that would hardly have been appropriate for our first Globe experience we decided. Standing within the Globe, you're literally inside a panoramic reconstruction of theatrical history. I think that's part of the magic of the place - just stepping inside the venue is to be transported to another time and place even before the actors come onstage. Unfortunately, there is the odd plane flying overhead to undercut the illusion you've stepped 500 or so years back in time, but apart from that...

I've never actually seen 'Merry Wives' performed onstage before, and I heard it recently described as Shakespeare's pioneering of the soap opera genre. Certainly it has a wonderful frivolity about it, which was played to the hilt in this ebullient production. The actors were preceded by a band of costumed Elizabethan musicians onstage, who established an appropriately 'merry' atmosphere, before retreating to the stage's upper balcony. Their musical underscoring of the production really heightened the ability to emotional connect with the play. The contemporary score, played through most of the acting, was composed to be very sensitive to a period feel, at the same time as using the techniques of filmscores to woo the audience - it really added another dimension.

Watching the cast was like a masterclass in acting Shakespearean comedy. Being in a mostly outdoors venue invites quite a physically expressive playing style - naturalism would get a little lost on this stage. You can imagine the dynamics of the venue dictate a playing style which is similar to the approaches of Shakespeare's time (though I imagine impressively well informed directing is even more responsible). Certainly I have never experienced as close a spiritual connection between Shakespearean acting and commedia dell'arte as was the case here. Not because of the playing style as much as because of the connection between the actors and their audience - it feels like truly 'popular' theatre.

The farcical plot of 'Merry Wives' played itself out over about two and a half hours - with some much needed sitting down during the interval! It was in the play's final act that the production unleashed an unexpected spectacle - the final public 'set up' of Falstaff waiting in the Windsor Woods for a romantic assignation, and being beset by neighbours disguised as fairies, was played like an Elizabethan masque, with characters beautifully costumed and masked. The full cast singing and dancing within this scene seemed a Shakespearean equivalent to a contemporary musical's 'showstopper' number. I've never experienced such a deliriously happy audience at the end of a Shakespearean performance. You could feel that communal warm buzz of an audience who are completely delighted with what they have just experienced.

The protracted applause was eventually hushed by current Globe Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole, who introduced one of the Globe's Board Members, there with a large party of guests for his birthday. It was nice to discover New Zealand's very own Dawn Sanders of the Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ was also in the audience as part of the party. And leaving the theatre, you really did feel like you'd been at a birthday celebration yourself. Such a joyful dynamic of theatre presentation sets a high standard for other Shakespearean productions to aim for. Thereagain, I doubt it would have been quite the same atmosphere had we chosen to attend 'King Lear' instead!

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Feel free to get in touch with any questions (or if you're planning a London visit and want some theatre recommendations) to jamesstuarthadley@gmail.com

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15/09/08