Holy Warriors, Shakespeare's Globe ***

John Hopkins (Richard the Lionheart)
 Sirine Saba (Berengaria of Navarre/Queen Sibylla)
 Alexander Siddig (Saladin) and Daniel Rabin (King Guy of Jerusalem) in Holy Warriors

 In this new play by David Elridge, he takes us on a journey through 800 years of history and how the crusades have had affected events through time. This visceral piece is delightful the whole way through. It starts with an atmospheric Arabian chant and makes you stand back out of sheer admiration for this piece. As an altar boy, throughout I experienced severe thurible envy (see picture top centre) and multiple scenes, including the opening one, reminded me of the sacred ostent of church. However, the grandure and pomp is also what detracts from this piece. It is so awe- consuming that it is hard to be drawn in and be immersed in the piece. Perhaps it is the fact that 800 years is perhaps too ambitious a time range to capture or whether it is just that the characters are too hard to break into so when they die, little pain is felt by the audience. The premature death in the play, I thought, should have had more impact but instead was just taken in; another piece of information for the audience to digest. However the scale of this production is rarely done by the Globe, except perhaps in Titus Andronicus, so designer Mike Brittonmust be applauded for his fantastic set.

The whole piece is spectacular and is yet another triumph for the Globe and, whilst not emotionally engaging, succeeds in a feat that few people would dare do.