Kidding Around With the Bard in London

It was an unusually hot August afternoon by English standards, and I was beginning to regret our decision to join the nobility. Sweat streamed down my neck. Next to me, my husband, Frank, was fanning himself with his program; at my other side, our 9-year-old daughter, Marina, shaded her eyes from the sun.

On the stage in front of us, Shakespeare’s Macbeth had just come face to face with the three witches.

“Mommy,” said Marina, turning to squint at me, “I think we should go down and join the groundlings in the shade.” In Shakespeare’s era, “groundlings” were people who watched the show from the open yard in front of the stage, while richer people sat in more expensive seats in the covered galleries.

That afternoon we were in the lower gallery of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a replica of the roofless playhouse where the Bard and his troupe of actors first performed his plays 400 years ago. After much debate, we had bought tickets where we could sit and watch like noblemen. It hadn’t occurred to us that the afternoon sun would beat down on the gallery seats, while much of the yard was in cool shadow. Belatedly we realized it wasn’t the nobility but the workers and riffraff who had the best deal. We quickly shifted our class allegiance and joined the groundlings.

Our family had talked about seeing a play here ever since the new Globe Theatre opened in 1997. When we vacationed in England last August, the Globe was one of our first stops during a week that aimed to explore London and please a 9-year-old at the same time.

If you’re looking for a city to visit with children, London is close to ideal. There are enough attractions, historical and cultural--not to mention shopping opportunities--to keep kids happy for weeks. There are fun things to do around every corner, from riding on double-decker buses to watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace to scouting out the animals at the London Zoo.

For our family, Shakespeare was a priority. We’d introduced Marina to his work at an early age with a children’s animated video adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Some people raise an eyebrow at this; they think Shakespeare isn’t appropriate for children. But we’ve found that his vivid sense of fantasy and joyful games with the English language make many of his plays appealing to kids.

During Shakespeare’s era, plays were entertainment for everyone--rich and poor, educated and illiterate. And those audiences didn’t sit in the dark in hushed silence. People jostled each other, shouted and sometimes even threw tomatoes at actors. “Will we get to throw tomatoes?” Marina had asked hopefully.

For better or worse, no tomatoes were flying at the matinee we attended. But director Tim Carroll and the actors of the Globe’s Red Company made things lively. The three witches, wearing bow ties and black-rimmed glasses, danced to a cocktail party jazz band. Lady Macbeth, a socialite in a silver Spandex gown and clip-on earrings, kicked off her pumps on arriving home.

As for Macbeth, he was a driven, Tony Blair-era yuppie. This husband and wife made the perfect Clintonian couple. “We shall not fail!” she shouted into the padded shoulder of his suit. Marina, who had expected doublets and colored hose, was taken aback. “What year is this set in?” she asked at the end of the first scene.

After the show we had an early pasta dinner at the on-site Globe Cafe, enjoying the view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, then strolled along the Thames on the Bankside promenade. Our child-friendly nightcap was a visit to Garfunkel’s restaurant near Trafalgar Square for hot sticky toffee pudding with English custard. Marina pronounced this the best dessert ever and plotted several more visits to the family-oriented chain during our stay.

Although Shakespeare’s London ranked high on our list of places to go and things to do, we squeezed other kid-friendly destinations into our itinerary too.

Marina chose to visit Hamley’s six-story extravaganza of a toy store instead of the Tower of London, which was fine with us, since we had toured the Tower before. If you’ve never been there, it can be a memorable experience for adults and older children. The Tower--begun in 1078 by William the Conqueror and expanded by successive rulers over the years--is notorious for its history as a prison. Yeoman warders, or beefeaters, in splendid red coats and white ruffs, delight in telling stories about historic figures who met their fate here. Children may want to see the crown jewels, displayed in the jewel house, and keep an eye out for the six famous ravens, official residents of the Tower. A visit to the Tower can take the better part of a day because there’s usually a long line to get in, an hour’s guided tour and assorted diversions.

Many kids will want to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace--or at least part of the hourlong ceremony. Dressed in their red jackets, white epaulets and tall black fur hats, the guards are most fascinating for what they will never do: shift their weight while standing at attention, break their rigid, straight-ahead gaze or, of course, smile. Children love to try to distract them by waving, jumping or making funny faces.

St. Paul’s Cathedral is another good stop on a kids’ tour of London, largely thanks to the long climb--521 steps that lead up to the viewing gallery. After all, who younger than 12 could resist counting stairs while going up ... two at a time? The cathedral--designed by Christopher Wren and built during the late 17th century--offers fabulous views of London from the top. Best of all, halfway up the inside of the dome is the Whispering Gallery, where kids can whisper messages from one side of the dome clear across to the other.

Three centuries newer, and decidedly more high-tech, is British Airways’ London Eye. Rising 450 feet over the River Thames, it’s billed as the world’s highest “observation wheel” because, unlike a traditional Ferris wheel, it revolves at a slow, stately pace. The Eye also offers spectacular views of the city.

Marina loved the intimate little Sherlock Holmes Museum, at 221b Baker St., a former Victorian boardinghouse that’s been set up to look like the fictional Holmes abode. She liked running through Kensington Gardens, across the street from our hotel, where a statue of Peter Pan stands. And she enjoyed the Science Museum; she’s still talking about its cool space simulators, designed to train astronauts.

The Shakespeare connections ranked at the top of the list for our family, though.

After the Globe, we made sure we saw the Royal National Theatre, a three-playhouse complex in South Bank. We took a backstage tour, saw the National’s 1,080-seat Olivier Theatre and learned about Laurence Olivier’s involvement in its planning and design before his death in 1989. We visited the carpentry shop, where sets are built and fireproofed, and the props department, where crocodiles and latex chickens were stacked next to wood spears and Gypsy wagons.

That night we returned to the National to see “A Winter’s Tale” at the Olivier. I worried that Marina might fall asleep or--worse for us--fidget with boredom. Maybe director Nicholas Hytner shared some of my apprehension because he went all out with the staging. Act 1 was set in an upscale modern living room and played like “All My Children” elevated to Greek drama. Act 2 seemed to pay homage to the 1968 Broadway musical “Hair” and featured a Woodstock-like sheep-shearing festival and hippies camped out in tents. Marina was riveted.

British directors seem to be working hard to make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And judging by what we saw at the Globe and the National, they’re on the right track. Audiences love it. Some Shakespeare buffs raised on Olivier and John Gielgud may wonder whether depth hasn’t been sacrificed, but by reaching out to a broad audience, British theater seems to have assured itself a vibrant future.

Next we journeyed to the place where it all began--Stratford-upon-Avon. Of course, some people argue that the plays were not actually written by the “Bard of Avon” but by Christopher Marlowe or one of several other likely suspects. But for most of us these are the plays of Shakespeare, and Stratford is the town he came from. Anne Hathaway’s thatched cottage, the most charming of the Shakespeare landmarks, is set among gardens and orchards in the village of Shottery, a mile from Stratford. At 26, Anne was still living here with her parents, successful farmers, when 18-year-old Will came courting. They married in 1582, and six months later Anne gave birth to their first child.

“Mommy, what’s a shotgun wedding?” Marina asked when the house guide had finished her thumbnail history. The story of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, I decided, was not such a bad introduction to the subject.

One of the many mysteries of Shakespeare’s life is why he abruptly left Stratford and his family a few years later, after Anne gave birth to twins. Some say he was running from the law, because he had recently been charged with poaching. But I’ve always thought that having three babies and an older wife must have been daunting at his age. Maybe, I said to Marina, Shakespeare realized he still wasn’t quite grown up and he needed some time. Whatever his reason for leaving Stratford, it was a fateful choice. It’s not clear what happened to him in the intervening years, but by 1592 he was well ensconced in London’s theatrical world.

We hopped on the red sightseeing bus that loops past the major Stratford landmarks, heading for the house of Mary Arden, Shakespeare’s mother, then into town to Shakespeare’s birthplace. From the top deck of the bus we gazed over the hedgerows at green and gold farmland, imagining we were the Ardens’ country neighbors. Any moment, it seemed, a ragtag band of traveling players might appear, preparing to set up their stage.

The entrance to Shakespeare’s birthplace on Henley Street is disappointing. Years before, Frank and I had made our pilgrimage, expecting an ancient, magical door. Instead we found a large, modern facade, looking much like a suburban post office. It is necessary to pass through this, the ticket office and Shakespeare exhibition hall, to arrive at the place where Will was born in 1564.

To our surprise, everything inside had changed since our last visit in the 1980s. Gone were the bare white walls and few austere pieces of furniture that had suggested the Shakespeare family led a spartan existence. In their place was a riot of color. Boldly painted black, gold and blue linen covered the walls. The canopy bed where Shakespeare was born sported red and green curtains. Candles burned on night tables, and elegant shoes were laid out as if the owners were about to step into them. “It seems like he’s still living here,” Marina said.

The new decor, the guide said, is based on recent research. The Shakespeares were prosperous, and the redesign reflects that. The curators of the Shakespeare Birthplace seem to have been thinking about the playwright and his modern audience. And perhaps they’ve been influenced by projects like Colonial Williamsburg that bring the past to life in a way that makes it real, even to children.

We wandered out of the playwright’s house and down Church Street, past the half-timbered 15th century building where he attended grammar school. It had been raining, and puddles filled the streets. Just off Mill Lane is Trinity Church, where Shakespeare lies buried.

It was almost dusk, and clouds were scattering above the River Avon, which flows at the churchyard’s edge. We walked down to the water and watched swans propel themselves upstream, scanning the water for bugs. The sky above the Avon turned pink and then lavender. “I wish we could stay in Stratford just awhile longer,” said Marina as we headed for the car.

Then, without skipping a beat, she added, “But I can’t wait to get back to London. I wish we could stay there forever.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Guidebook: Staging a Family Trip to London Town

Getting there: Nonstop service is available from LAX to London on United, American, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $984.

Telephones: To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 44 (country code for England), 20 (city code for London) and the local number.

Where to stay: The Columbia Hotel, 95/99 Lancaster Gate, London W2 3NS; 7402-0021, www.columbiahotel.co.uk. This mansion is across from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Its bar, sitting room and breakfast room speak of a bygone age. Doubles start at $127.

The Royal Horseguards, 2 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EJ; in the U.S. call (800) 847-4358, www.thistlehotels.com/royalhorseguards. Families who want to splurge might like this elegant hotel in the heart of “tourist London.” Doubles start at $227. One child younger than 16 can stay free when accompanied by adults.

Where to eat: Browns Restaurant & Bar, 82-84 St. Martins Lane; 7497-5050. Great children’s menu with choices like burgers, chicken fingers and mashed potatoes, pasta or fish and chips. For adults, there are char-grilled turkey breast with cranberry sauce or salmon cakes with greens. There are eight locations in London. The Martins Lane restaurant, in Covent Garden, offers a pre-and post-theater menu. Entrees start at about $10.50.

Garfunkel’s Restaurant & Coffee Shop, www.garfunkels.co.uk. Fifteen locations around London. A child-friendly chain serving the usual burgers, pizza and sandwiches. Big desserts are a specialty. Open late, in case you have a sugar crisis after the theater. Lunch or dinner entrees start at $9; desserts about $5.

What to do: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London; 7902-1400 www.shakespeares-globe.org. Built beside the Thames, the new Globe offers a season of Shakespeare and other drama, as well as tours and educational programs. Tours are available through Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition. To attend a performance, order tickets well in advance, and check the seating plan on the Globe Web site. If you’re attending a summer matinee, beware the sun. Call and ask box office personnel which seats will be shaded. Prices range from $7.60 for groundlings (standing) to $41.

Royal National Theatre, South Bank, London; box office 7452-3000, www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. The complex comprises three auditoriums and a cafeteria. A range of plays old and new is presented six days a week throughout the year. Tickets are sometimes, but not always, available at the box office the day of the performance. Prices vary but tend to be consistently less than Broadway prices because the National Theatre is government-subsidized. Guided tours are available Monday through Saturday.

The Shakespeare Center, Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon; 1789-204-016, www.shakespeare.org.uk. Tickets for the Shakespeare Heritage Trail are available at each site, or you can buy a ticket for all five sites, $18 for adults, $9 for children.

For more information: British Tourist Authority, 551 Fifth Ave., Suite 701, New York, NY 10176; (800) GO-2-BRITAIN (462-2748), www.travelbritain.org.

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Mona Molarsky is a freelance writer who covers travel and culture. She lives in New York City.