SOUTH BANK CONTRASTS

Strolling along the south bank of the Thames this afternoon I was struck once again by the contrast betweent he Globe and the National Theatres. The Globe is traditional and yet American, Shakespeare as it was in his day, sponsored and paid for by private money raised by the determination of a Hollywood actor who felt strongly that Sh's plays should be performed in the way that he would have known in the city where he made his name. The NT by contrast is v British - a concrete theatrical city paid for by the taxpayer.
The National however is in some ways more entrepreneurial than the Globe - many of the plays are musicals or popular middle class entertainments that translate to the West End and make the NT (and its directors) a pretty penny - Copenhagen, History Boys, Guys and Dolls, etc have all gone to mroe commercial venues, while the Globe sticks to Shakespeare with the occasional nod to his contemporaries, who would probably never see the light of day without their efforts. Today we went to a reading of an eightenth century play about Jews by Lessing of interest only because it showed a non-antisemitic treatment of the subject. The NT's extra-auditorium activities are more mainstream. Both venues have backstage tours, a major source of income to the Globe, a privileged look backstage for the NT.
The Globe is commercial yet keeps traditional even unknown Elizabethan theatre alive - the NT is subsidised yet is pretty sharp when it comes to making money out of the punter with its modern productions. I have always enjoyed the NT plays but have a soft spot for the Globe also