Chapter 1 - London

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BILLY ELLIOT - BILLY SHAKESPEARE DOUBLE HEADER
Today had a bit of a thespian theme, but before that we had a bit of fun taking the Tube from Paddington to the Central City in rush (crush) hour.
It probably not on most people’s top 10 things to do in London and if you have personal space issues it’s definitely something to avoid at all costs – it was however an interesting experience to say the least!
We were packed in like sardines yet at each stop people seemed to find room for extras, and somehow if people needed to get off at a stop they found a way to get to the exit doors. Not something I would like to do every day and we’ll probably avoid peak time travel in the future. In general the tube is well patronised throughout the day but there’s plenty of space for all outside rush hour – it is an incredibly efficient way to get around London.
SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE THEATRE
We went back to the Globe Theatre first up and had an extremely interesting guided tour. The history of the Theatre – destroyed and rebuilt 4 times – the latest edition a faithful and authentic re-creation of the previous Globe. It is an impressive structure indeed. The commentary expertly wove the story of the theatre with Shakespeare’s life and general life in London at the time. Including the fact that the worst view in the theatre was the highest seats but the rich would pay top dollar for them so other people would have to look up to them. At the other end of the scale because the cheapest admission was just 1 penny even the poorest could afford to attend. This created a massive stink (literally) as people of that class rarely washed!
Great experience highly recommended.
BILLY ELLIOT
Firstly, the Victoria Royal Theatre is a beautiful and historic building, the perfect setting for a show. There were many similarities in design to the Globe (which perhaps reinforces the vision of those responsible for the Globe).
The show was excellent; a mixture of comedy, song, dance set against a the depressing background of a North England miner’s strike. The Billy for our show (there’s about four of them they rotate) was doing just his second show – unconfirmed reports he’s American! But regardless he pulled of the North England accent perfectly.
BRITAIN AT WAR EXPERIENCE
In between our two theatrical experiences we visited the Britain at War Experience, interesting displays and information on Britain during the Second World War, with very realistic (and quite chilling) film footage and commentary from people who were living through the war.

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Photos

Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre, the home of Shakespeare, so much history

Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre
0ur first West End show, a really enjoyable experience.

Britain at War Experience
Very realistic look at life in Britains darkest hours