Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London Reviews 31

I went to see” Mid Summer Night Dream” with my daughter yesterday, January 9, 2026. Was hopping to have a lovely Shakespeare play. It was ugliest, over sexual, demonic performance. I left after first act. And I saw other people leave as well. It is the first time I believe, that I did anything like that at the life show. Please keep your children away from that theater 🙏 Philippians 4:8

I really enjoyed our tour today. Tyler was a great tour guide, and we were blessed to see part of a tech rehearsal.

Everytime I see a show here I am always amazed, entertained, and my passion reignited for theatre.

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!

I was post knee operation and using crutches. Alistair and Lyn approached us and offered to take us to our seats using a lift. They not only escorted us to our seats but returned to us at the interval and when the play was over. This attention was unexpected and greatly appreciated.

Went to see Romeo & Juliet. Was looking forward to seeing this interpretation. Sadly it wasn't for us. Shouting Shakespeare does not translate me the spoken word. It felt Iambic pentameter had been misunderstood. Juliet was far removed from a sensitive, young 13 year old on the brink of exciting romantic love- think more boardy pub landlady. Romeo lacked lustre for us and often when characters marched to the other side of the stage the projection was lost for us on the other side. It embraces the bawdy audience of days gone by but sadly lacked emotion and substance. Left after first half.

The theatre allowed women with exceptionally young babies as part of the audience: this diverts attention from the action on the stage as the young children frequently cry.
But the Management demands that mobile phones are switched off or put on silence.
Next time I'll book for a performance at my local creche

Paid £28 for 'standing' room for two places to see Hansel and Gretal. However me and my child couldn't see much of it, as there were people standing any and everywhere. When we finally did find somewhere to stand and could see the play, we were told we 'need to move as the actors need to come in and out from that area'. Play was also nothing like was advertised. Actors not wearing anything remotely resembling costumes for the play, and the play was not the fairytale I remember. Very odd experience. Would not recommend and certainly wont be returning.

I have been going to the Globe for years to see plays, but last week did not even resemble a shakespeare play, the Actors were like trainees forgetting their lines,stupid costumes and puppets that had nothing to do with play, lots of swearing loudly, with children in the audience, very disappointed, seeing as i had seen this play a few years ago in period costume at the globe and it was splendid, great Actors and funny.
Who ever is modernising these plays needs to re think what they are doing because you will loose customers especially tourists from abroad who come to see the real Shakespeare plays not some silly farce.
I will not be visiting again.

Great theatre with wooden benches and standing in the round tickets. You can pay extra for a cushion and blanket. Lots of helpful staff and volunteers around. Antony and Cleopatra was bilingual- spoken English and BSL. Interesting and intriguing performance with a great cast. Benches can be hard on the legs and back. Glad I paid for a cushion. Used Blackfriars Tube Station for the first time which is a five minute walk from the theatre.

We have been going to the Globe for 21 years, and until Friday, have never felt the need to walk out of a performance. We went to see The Taming of the Shrew, and the production was truly awful. Music too loud, actors mumbling, odd set and incomprehensible staging, plus characters not in the original text. Also, far too much profanity, especially for the children in the audience. What a disappointment.
However, the staff were, as always, helpful and lovely, so that's something!

Volunteer staff lovely - paid staff in box office staff rude and unhelpful. Over priced and seating very uncomfortable.

Have seen better school plays. Voices not projected well, esp. the narrator. Could not hear most of it. Waste of money. Several groups walked out at the interval.

Went to watch Hansel and Gretel today Christmas Eve. I read some really poor reviews so was not looking forward to it, but honestly it was fantastic. We were standing in the stalls and we throughly enjoyed it. I would recommend.

We did the tour of the Globe Theatre & what a great tour it was. Chris our guide was fantastic; funny & informative, he really made it a great tour. The Globe Theatre itself is an incredible building & definitely worth a visit. Afterwards had excellent hog roast sausage rolls & chocolate brownies in the cafe. We thought it was all good value & the staff were lovely.

Tried to give my son the experience of a Shakespeare Play ‘As You Like It’. Alas experienced very odd ‘alternative’ production. Lead actress had an American accent. Guardian review summed it up best.

We only lasted until the interval as the woman nursing her young baby in the row behind totally ruined the performance fit us. Apparently Thr Globe have no restrictions.

I took 4 family members and friends to the Globe to see "As you like it". This was my first visit back to the Globe since the covid pandemic but prior the pandemic I have enjoyed excellent performances of Shakespeare plays at the globe and I have seen numerous performance of Shakespeare plays over the years in all sorts of venues.
This was the most awful awful performance I have ever seen put on by a team of actors who had no idea how to act never mind having the ability to act out a Shakespeare play. They destroyed a great Shakespeare play by turning it into a song and dance performance , unfortunately none of them were able to sing or dance. I found it unbelievable that the Globe Theatre allowed this group amateurs to perform on the stage at the Globe Theatre. If this is how the Globe theatre now see Shakespeare plays should be performed going forward then it's a complete destruction of the great man's works and I don't think I will ever be returning to the Globe again.

As you DONT like it !
Possibly the worst ‘professional’ rendition of ‘As you like it’ ever staged.
Globe managers- please, please please be more discerning when selecting theatre companies to perform on your world renowned stage. The only actor with any life in her at all was Rosalind, the others simply could not act . Their characterisation was hopeless and most of them could barely enunciate or project their lines. They managed to turn a lively Shakespearean play into some sort of burlesque mockery of the Bard’s genius. To be avoided!

The performance of Macbeth was very disappointing. Not only were the lines badly spoken, but the casting was off, the characterisation not convincing and the acting in general undermined the credibility of the play.

We arrived for a Guided Tour experience. Our party walked into the venue and at the end of a walkway a member of staff was speaking to a lady. We went to go to the ticket desk and the member of staff stopped talking to the lady and abruptly said to us "wait here!" We waited, however, we were taken aback at the abrupt way the member of staff said this to us. Two women came in behind us and proceeded to go passed us and passed the member of staff talking to the lady. The member of staff did look at the two ladies but said nothing to them and they proceeded to the ticket desk and weren't stopped from doing so, as we were. As the conversation with the lady was continuing for a considerable period of time, we proceeded to go passed them to the desk as the two ladies behind us had done. The member of staff again, very rudely, tried to stop us and I asked why they were able to go to the desk and we were not? On receiving no answer, we proceeded to the desk. After a while, the two ladies proceeded to buy tickets. The original lady in front of us was then escorted to the desk by the member of staff and was served before us which was fine, as she was originally before us. She proceeded to ask several questions which the other staff member at the desk answered quite abruptly and then proceeded to call the lady "sir" when answering. This lady then decided against buying tickets for the guided tour and left. We had pre-purchased tickets through a Rewards partner and the lady at the desk processed our booking but she was quite brusque and unfriendly. We agreed later that if we hadn't already paid through a Rewards partner, we would have left also. We enjoyed the tour itself but it was not worth £25 per person. Our Tour Guide, Mark was very good and knowledgeable and he was the Globe's redeeming factor. However, given the complete lack of customer service on arrival and the cost, our party would not recommend this at all. We visited a lot of different venues during our trip to London and this was by far the worst experience. We strongly recommend saving your money for other things in London which are far better, including customer service which was sadly lacking here. Left a very bad taste, I'm afraid :(