What: Pop-Up Globe – Around the Globe in 60 Minutes
Where: Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne

Performances run until 3 February, 2018
For more information, please visit https://popupglobe.com.au

It was a third time to the Pop-Up Globe last week, this time to check out Around the Globe in 60 Minutes. With no concept of what the show was about (although kind of expecting a boring history lesson), I’d dare say, it’s the most under-rated show on offer.

Written by the director of As You Like It, Tom Mallaburn; the story focuses on playwright William Davenant and his scheme to re-open the Globe and restore his fortunes, and cleverly weaves in the creation of the Kings and Queens Company at the Pop-Up Globe.

While branded as family-friendly, the show is surprisingly raunchy. While jokes may go over the head’s of children, many I thought inappropriate for younger audiences. There was also the surprise of fake blood, although mild in comparison to Henry V.

The actors respond and feed off audience reaction and participation, so it’s sad the show attracts so few. As the shortest and most affordable show on offer (the most you’ll pay is $25) it’s a good introduction into the magic of the theatre – a good taster, if you will, if you’re curious but not yet ready to fork out money to see one of the larger shows.

Shakespeare can be difficult at the best of times, so Around The Globe bridges that confusion by being easier to understand. While it doesn’t feel out of place at the Globe, simply put, the show is different to the others.

Although the actors understudy the main cast of other performances, you wouldn’t know it. Talented in their own right, the show relies heavily on its cast of five. Ben Adams for me was by far the stand out performer, playing a multitude of comedic roles, but Hugh Sexton is charming, Roy Barker is camp for all the right reasons, Kerrie Anne Baker is appropriately scary and Mia Landgren is powerful as Queen Henrietta Maria.

For a show you initially don’t expect much of, it’s surprising how genuinely funny and cleaver it actually is. With its modern-day touches, the show is easily relatable and easy to follow, and in that sense, great for children. Around The Globe takes all the good from Shakespeare and puts it into this small show of high production value.