Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre brings its world tour production of Hamlet to The Market Theatre |this weekend. Diane de Beer posed some questions to director Dominic Dromgoole
Why Hamlet? I think Hamlet, so beautiful and so perfect in form, has been a continually enriching experience for the company. It has ripened and developed on its journey – the actors have grown it, and can continue to reflect on what it means as it makes its way around the world.
In this kind of record-breaking attempt, how do you make sure you’re serving Shakespeare? Obviously this project is a way of marking two very important anniversaries, but also of celebrating the fact that Shakespeare is an astonishing artist whose reach already crosses more geographical territory than, I think, any other writer in history. We want to extend that reach even further. So far, every audience member knows the lines ‘To be or not to be’ and we have even had some mouth it along with our actors.
With this tour we’re also celebrating the fact that the Globe has developed a remarkable host of international relationships and friendships. And that’s very much the way the world is going.
Tell us more about the cast? This Hamlet has an international cast, a lot of people from different cultures and theatre traditions coming together, bringing different ideas. It’s a squad of 12 actors and four stage managers. They’ll are sharing roles. Rawiri Paratene… is playing Claudius and Polonius. One of our Hamlets, Ladi Emeruwa, is from Nigeria; the other, Naeem Hayat, is from a Muslim family in East London; and Jennifer Leong is one of our Ophelias. She’s a protégée of Hong Kong’s Tang Shu-wing company.
What is it about Shakespeare’s plays for you? It’s sort of shocking how relevant and pertinent and powerful he still is. He’s been gaining traction over the last 20 years, it seems almost exponentially. And I can only see that continuing over the next 100 or so, because there’s now a huge enthusiasm for Shakespeare in China, for example, and it’s growing in India.
Celebrating the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, where does the idea of Globe to Globe Hamlet come from?
In 2012, as part of the Cultural Olympiad that accompanied the London Olympic Games, the Globe hosted a ground-breaking theatrical festival entitled Globe to Globe. Thirty-seven companies from 37 countries gathered at the Globe to perform Shakespeare’s entire canon, in languages ranging from Maori to Mandarin, from Japanese to Juba Arabic, over a six-week period. This marathon tour of Hamlet – co-directed by myself and Bill Buckhurst – will be performed in every country on earth between April 2014 and April 2016. The former is the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, and the second is the fourth centenary of his death.
Do you think the production grows and changes over these two years? We’re using a text that’s a mix of the Folio text of Hamlet and the First Quarto. The First Quarto was very much a touring version, roughly half the length of the Second Quarto. That means it’s got an energy, with a fast-moving narrative, and clarity.
How did the audiences in the different countries react? Did you experience differences in reaction and reception? We have had an amazingly varied reaction to the production. Some audiences have been very vocal, some very quiet, but then they erupt with enthusiasm at the curtain call. It is amazing to see what the play means in each country, and how they resonate with audiences in different ways.
I know the Globe’s Shakespeare brand is a bit different, can you expand on that? We stay as true to Shakespeare’s words and reach out to audiences as much as possible. With this one we want to take the spirit of the Globe and the closeness of the actors with the audience to each venue.
‘Hamlet’ takes on the world
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’s unprecedented theatrical adventure is under way with the goal of performing Shakespeare’s Hamlet in every country in the world. They’re halfway there already.
Sixteen men and women are travelling across the seven continents and performing in a range of venues. The Globe to Globe Hamlet tour opened at Shakespeare’s Globe on April 23 2014, the 450th anniversary of the playwright’s birth, and will take two years to complete. Now it is our turn.
“Globe to Globe Hamlet was created with the aim of performing Hamlet to as many people as possible,” says Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of the Globe and the director of Hamlet. “Shakespeare can entertain and speak to anyone…”
• Hamlet will be at The Market Laboratory for two performances this weekend (March 28
and 29).