Wednesday night, we had our second play to see, As You Like It. The exciting thing about the performance was that we were to watch it at the Globe Theatre. For the first part of the play, half of the students would become "groundlings," where they would stand at the front of the stage, right in front of the action. At intermission, the second half who had been seated in the galleys would switch, giving everyone the opportunity to both stand and sit.

But what no one was counting on tonight was the rain.

We began walking to the Globe at about 6:30 p.m., where we were met by a light sprinkle. By the time we were at St. Paul's Cathedral, it had begun to rain. When we crossed the Millennium Bridge, it was pouring. When we entered the Globe, it was similar to watching buckets of water being dumped on the inside... if you didn't already know, the Globe is an open amphitheater. Though tonight, it resembled a bit of a swimming pool.

Each of the students had their chance to watch the play from the floor. Or in this case, each student got a chance to stand in the rain, covered with £2 rain ponchos (about $3.30), and listen to the squishing of their shoes. But everyone was able to laugh about it at some point.

The play itself was in no way dampened by the weather either. The actors not only carried on as if their costumes weren't sticking to them, they even incorporated it into the performance. At one point, Touchstone the clown brought out a puppet that resembled him and was about to play around with it before he paused, reached into his bag, and equipped it with a bit of plastic to cover its head, just like the groundlings surrounding the stage. It got one of the biggest laughs of the night.

So if I take anything away from tonight's experience, it's this: Watching a play from the ground at the Globe while it is pouring rain is basically the same as taking a dive into the Thames River. But at least I have a Shakespearian poncho as a souvenir.