The Globe To Globe Festival Starts Today @ The Globe Theatre

From today (which happens to be William Shakespeare’s birthday), as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad the Globe Theatre on the Southbank is hosting the ‘Globe To Globe Festival‘, featuring performances of all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays by 37 theatre companies from around the world in their 37 native languages!

Tonight’s show features a Haka (a Maori war dance) as New Zealand’s Ngakau Toa theatre company are opening the festival with a performance of Troilus and Cressida. Later on during the festival there will a ‘balkan trilogy’ as the countries of Serbia, Albania and Macedonia perform the plays dedicated to Henry VI. The Lithuanians will be taking to the stage with a performance of Hamlet, directed by Eimuntas Nekrosius, who is famous in his home country for staging the play. The Ashtar Theatre from Ramallah in Palestine will also be taking on Richard II. As you can see, there are going to some amazing and dramatic performances throughout the festival.

The festival director, Tom Bird, had this to say:

“The most exciting and challenging joy for us is the sheer variety of the festival. We will welcome national theatres, companies that are rooted in street theatre, newly commissioned translations, film stars, acclaimed international directors and companies with longstanding traditions of performing Shakespeare.”

Tickets for individual plays start at £5, and there are several multi-performance tickets, once of which is the ‘Yard Olympian’ ticket which allows you to see all 37 plays for £100. You can find all of the ticketing information here.

[box]For those with an interest in the Globe’s history, the current building is a near exact replica of the original which was built by carpenter Peter Smith and his team between 1597 and 1598. It was destroyed by fire in 1613 and was reconstructed, however this new building only survived until 1642 when the political climate in the country, influenced by the Puritans, saw the theatre closed down for good. The new Globe Theatre now stands about 200 yards from where its predecessor once stood. [/box]

Comments

  1. Emm says:

    Wow, that sounds like an incredible concept. I wish I understood Shakespeare better but my last experience of Hamlet (a play I thought I knew well) wasnt very much fun.
    Emm recently posted..iPhone App Review: Get Taxi

    • The Londoneer says:

      That’s a shame. I can’t say the same for my experiences – I went to see the ‘Comedy of Errors’ at Greenwich Playhouse last year and it was great fun. From years ago I also remember a performance of ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which took place on the battlements of Ludlow Castle, which was one of the most magical experiences of my life.

      I doubt you have to worry about these performances at the Globe – I can’t imagine that they’ll be anything but the best…

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