Today Is The 450th Anniversary Of Shakespeare’s Birth

  • 23 Apr 2014 2:00 AM
Today Is The 450th Anniversary Of Shakespeare’s Birth
Hamlet premiere in Shakespeare’s Globe Theater London and on the Margaret Island Open-air Stage - Shakespeare’s Globe is celebrating the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth throughout 2014 with special events at home in Bankside and a touring production of Hamlet visiting every country in the world.

The theater’s Hamlet cast will travel across the seven continents during that two years, performing in a huge range of unique and atmospheric venues – while they celebrate in Bankside, the neighbourhood where Shakespeare wrote the majority of his greatest works.

On 23 April 2014 the Globe opens its most ambitious tour yet: a two-year tour of Hamlet that will visit every single country on earth. For the first time at the Margaret Island Open-air Stage, the guest theatre company’s presentation will be complete with a special technical projection, which will be seen in this form only in Hungary on 21 June.

The production is a fresh, pared-down version of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of deferred revenge. The company of twelve actors and four stage managers will use a completely portable set to stage a Hamlet that celebrates all the exuberance and invention of Shakespeare’s language in a brisk two hours and forty minutes. The production will be directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst, designed by Jonathan Fensom and composed by Bill Barclay. Additional original music by Laura Forrest-Hay.
The role of Hamlet will be shared by Ladi Emeruwa and Naeem Hayat. All other male and female parts will be played in rotation by Keith Bartlett, John Dougall, Miranda Foster, Phoebe Fildes, Beruce Khan, Tom Lawrence, Jennifer Leong, Rawiri Paratene, Matthew Romain and Amanda Wilkin.

“In 1608, only five years after it was written, Hamlet was performed on a boat – the Red Dragon – off the coast of Yemen. Just ten years later it was being toured extensively all over Northern Europe. The spirit of touring, and of communicating stories to fresh ears, was always central to Shakespeare’s work. We couldn’t be happier to be extending that mission even further. By train, coach, plane and boat we aim to take this wonderful, iconic, multifarious play to as many fresh ears as we possibly can.” Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe

More information: www.szabadter.hu

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