Shakespeare's Globe Restored

The title is deceptive, for this is not a nuts-and-bolts documentary on the recent restoration of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Instead, the video focuses on a group of UC Berkeley drama students who travel to Southwart during summer break and perform at the newly restored Globe. Select scenes from their gutsy performance of Much Ado About Nothing are presented in the video--the first recorded production on the rebuilt Globe stage--along with rehearsals, diction lessons, and pre-production interviews appropriately tinged with apprehension and excitement about performing the Bard on such hallowed ground. In deference to the video's title, we do get a good look at the reconstructed Globe Theatre, now the neo-rustic centerpiece of an education and performing arts complex visited by thousands of tourists annually--sort of an Elizabethan EuroDisney (alas, the bear-baiting days are gone forever). The video excels as a teaching tool for students of Shakespeare and drama, and could conceivably serve as a travel guide for River Thames vacationers. Recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (W. Pierce)