World Shakespeare Festival

[Sheilbh]

The Globe started their World Shakespeare Festival yesterday (St. George's day and Shakespeare's birth and death day). 

The project will have every word of Shakespeare performed somewhere in the next few months.  Because the Olympics are in town they've gone for the idea of Shakespeare as a world writer to celebrate and are exploring how he's been interpreted elsewhere and become a sort of global property.  One example of this is that there are two recent productions that toured the Arab world of Hamlet and Richard III clearly set in ageing Arab gerontocracies, the company touring with them was banned from performing in Syria and was only allowed into Mubarak's Egypt if they performed in English.  But I think that demonstrates the sort of theme the festival's going for.

So they've got loads of theatre companies from all over the world coming for runs and a few other interesting things too - there was a group from South Africa doing a version of, I think, Venus and Adonis last night.

But the most exciting part of the project is that every one of Shakespeare's plays are being performed in the Globe by (mostly) national theatre companies from all over the world in different languages - so yesterday the festival opened with Troilus and Cressida in Maori (apparently a pretty good production).  The national theatre companies have, I think, a three day run - so all of the plays will run over a six week period. 

There are a few productions that sound particularly interesting.  The Chinese company doing Richard III have a really good reputation.  The idea of a Pakistani interpretation of the Taming of the Shrew is striking.  I really want to see the Belarus Free Theatre's production of King Lear - they're a dissident theatre group in Minsk that have attracted attention here in recent years through the championing of people like Vaclav Havel and Tom Stoppard.  The two events that stand out, though, are probably the Israeli National Theatre's Merchant of Venice and a collaboration of the Bosnian, Serbian and Albanian companies to produce Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3.  The British contribution is, of course, Henry V and a British Sign Language production of Love's Labour's Lost.

Anyway it all sounds very exciting.  If go see anything I'll let people know.  Tickets to all 38 productions can be had for £100 - which I can't afford - but, being the Globe, you can get tickets for £5 if you don't mind standing and the possible threat of being rained on so I can see the odd show.

Details here in case anyone's interested or in London and looking for something to do:
http://globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com/

Edit:  Another striking entry is from the South Sudan national theatre, just because they're newest country in the world and all.

Also to visitors even when this sort of thing's on the Globe's always worth a visit.  It's an interesting building and generally you can always get tickets for a fiver and it's a nice/different experience than going to the West End or something.

[CountDeMoney]

Man, the benefits of Empire.    I wish I was over there for that.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Yesterday I saw an excellent programme (the first of three) on Shakespeare, the death of the old Queen and the first years of James I's reign. It was presented by a chap called James Shapiro, who clearly knew his stuff, and was on BBC4.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qhsr7

I think that link will only work in Britain  , but for any Brits interested in such things it is worth a look.

[Sheilbh]

It was presented by a chap called James Shapiro, who clearly knew his stuff, and was on BBC4.

He's a brilliant scholar.  He wrote a popular book on Shakespeare recently that was very well received:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/1599-Year-Life-William-Shakespeare/dp/0571214819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335276650&sr=8-1

I've not read it, but it's on my list.

I've not listened to it yet but this Radio 4 series on Shakespeare got good reviews too and I think it's available internationally:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/shakespeares-restless-world/

[mongers]

It was presented by a chap called James Shapiro, who clearly knew his stuff, and was on BBC4.

He's a brilliant scholar.  He wrote a popular book on Shakespeare recently that was very well received:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/1599-Year-Life-William-Shakespeare/dp/0571214819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335276650&sr=8-1

I've not read it, but it's on my list.

I've not listened to it yet but this Radio 4 series on Shakespeare got good reviews too and I think it's available internationally:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/shakespeares-restless-world/

Thanks for the links. 

[Sheilbh]

Went to my first play yesterday, the National Theatre of China's production of Richard III.  Unfortunately their props, costumes and set were lost in a container in Felixstowe ( ), but the performance itself was absolutely superb.  The atmosphere in the Globe as well was just brilliant.  Really good.

What's amazing was that milling around in the interval and before you find out lots of people have been to a few of these.  When you hear people talking about full houses for Pericles (Greece) and the Merry Wives of Windsor (Kenya) and them being amazing productions you get the sense something special's happening.

This week I'm going to five more Julius Caesar (Italy), Cymbeline (South Sudan), Titus Andronicus (Hong Kong), Richard II (Palestine) and Othello (US).  Can't wait

[CountDeMoney]

Went to my first play yesterday, the National Theatre of China's production of Richard III.

That had to be a fascinating interpretation;  what time period was it set in (if they had their props and costumes with them)?  Dynastic, or the Cultural Revolution?

[Sheilbh]

Went to my first play yesterday, the National Theatre of China's production of Richard III.

That had to be a fascinating interpretation;  what time period was it set in (if they had their props and costumes with them)?  Dynastic, or the Cultural Revolution?

With their costumes it would have been very imperial (though, this could just be me, I think Edward IV looked a lot like Hu).  Without them that wasn't as clear. 

There were some beautiful touches like Lady Anne's role was cut, the only dialogue she really had was the courting by Richard - her mourning both for her dead husband and her marriage were sung Peking Opera style.

The main thing that I loved about the interpretation was that everyone but Richard seemed trapped in a more formal play.  They were adhering, I assume, to imperial style etiquette.  A lot of their actions were very stilted whenever Edward or the Prince of Wales or another royal was on stage.  Richard was the most natural and at ease, he was operating outside the formal rules.  The scene where he convinced the Prince of Wales to go to the Tower of London was just chilling.

The best bit though was when they really used the Globe to full effect in the scene when Richard's acclaimed.  Because it's got the standing yard there's not so clear a line between performer and audience (many of them, after all, are leaning on the stage).  But you had Richard on stage with a couple of monks with prayer beads while Buckingham's roaming through the yard egging the lords and commons (us) to support him.  It was really very effective.

[CountDeMoney]

We just get Renaissance Faires here, with unemployed drama majors performing pieces like Romeo & Juliet In 10 Minutes, Or Your Next Sonnet Is Free!

Sometimes I hate America. 

[Brazen]

I rather like the look of the Maori Troilus and Cressida with added Haka, but I don't know the story well enough to follow it in foreign.

By the way, I work just across the Thames from the Globe, so if you fancy a pre-performance pint one evening give me a shout

[Sheilbh]

I rather like the look of the Maori Troilus and Cressida with added Haka, but I don't know the story well enough to follow it in foreign.

Yeah it's always a risk.  The ones I want to go to are either plays I know really well (Richard III, Macbeth), or that I know nothing about - apparently the Swahili Merry Wives of Windsor was hilarious and I'm looking forward to the Juba Arabic production of Cymbeline.  It's the big hitters of the English language repertoire, like Lear or Hamlet, that I'm most dubious about going to.

By the way, I work just across the Thames form the Globe, so if you fancy a pre-performance pint one evening give me a shout

Definitely.  I thought you were up Farringdon way?

[Brazen]

Definitely.  I thought you were up Farringdon way?

Yup, and it's just a 15-minute walk through Smithfield Market, down to St Paul's and across the wobbly bridge. It's my regular lunchtime constitutional 

[The Brain]

Anything in the original Klingon?

[Brazen]

Anything in the original Klingon?

There's one in hip-hop.