The globetrotting Hamlet

Imagine a writer who still commands the attention of readers and actors more than 4 centuries after his birth. A 16th-century writer whose one-liners are used in contemporary conversations and debates.

William Shakespeare. Age cannot wither him nor custom stale his infinite variety. His work transcends languages, borders and cultures. This is being further proved by the Globe to Globe tour that was launched on April 23, 2014, the 450th birth anniversary of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon. Conceived by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre under its artistic director Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe to Globe tour is going strong. And, at the time of going to press, it had travelled a distance of 3,09,841 km, and had visited 189 countries. The 12-actor team is set to cover all 205 countries of the world by April 23, 2016.

Artful introduction
Only 8 years after it was written, Hamlet was performed on a boat off the coast of Yemen in 1608. Within 10 years of its first performance in England, this play toured Europe extensively. The Globe Theatre hopes to pay tribute to Shakespeare by invoking this spirit of touring and reaching people who may have never heard of the Bard or Hamlet.

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre played at just one city in India: Bengaluru, at  Ranga Shankara. And, over an eclectic High tea of sabudana vada, sandwiches, tender-coconut water and tea, the various actors shared their fabulous experience of taking Hamlet to over a 100 countries, just before stepping onto the stage for their last show here.

Each actor plays various roles, which is not new to touring theatre. There were three Hamlets that evening. Ladi Emeruwa (from Nigeria), one of the actors who played Hamlet, was curious about sabudana vada. After having explained to him the mysteries of how tapioca or sago was transformed into this chewy snack, and how it was a native dish that had travelled from Maharashtra to Karnataka, we delved into the intricacies of playing Hamlet and other characters in the same tour.

The conversation turned out to be more down-to-earth than one would have imagined. “I didn’t like Shakespeare when I was studying in school. I thought it was for the intellectuals. It was only after I played Hamlet that I realised how close to the common man Shakespeare was.”

I wondered what he thought of Bengaluru. He made it clear that the cast never got a chance for sightseeing in any country — it was airport-station-hotel-theatre (or venue where they played), back to sleep and off to the next country. “But what I’ve seen of Bengaluru reminds me so much of my own Nigeria — the kind of mix between modern buildings and smaller ones; and certainly the crowded roads and the people. I think there is oneness in the suffering of the common man.”

Same play, varied venues
Emeruwa talked about the dramatically-changing venues they played at during the global tour: a courtyard of a university, a stage erected in an old temple, at a rock concert venue in Budapest with massive-screen camera rehearsals in the afternoon, before the show in the evening.

Phoebe Fildes, who plays Ophelia, Gertrude, Horatio, and some other smaller roles in the play, also talked about the different settings of the locations where they staged the play: in town squares with children running around, dogs walking onstage, cats finding their way in; in formal venues; on beaches. She said each venue had an identity that affected the way the audience responded to the play. She recalled that nearly 5,000 people turned up to see the play in Sudan, while there was only space for about 3,500.

Arundathi Nag, artistic advisor of Ranga Shankara, was palpably excited at meeting the Globe players. “The different audiences, spaces, experiences, and that’s not all, they all play 4 to 5 roles in each show! I saw one actor playing Hamlet in the afternoon and another character in the evening, with different interpretations. As an actor, for me, watching them swap roles and still keep the core of Shakespeare intact is a treat. They are completely loyal to the written word.”

S Surendranath, artistic director of Ranga Shankara, could barely suppress his excitement at having the Globe players in Bengaluru. He watched all the shows and marvelled at how each show looked completely different. “Every Hamlet plays his role differently. It’s fascinating how each brings his or her interpretation to the plays.”

Miranda Foster, who plays Hamlet’s mother Gertrude in the play, echoes the other actors’ views on the variety of venues and audiences they got to experience. She talked about Tuvalu, a little Pacific island where the play was performed on a strip of land around which the island people’s life revolved.

She was thrilled as people came and watched a play for the very first time in their lives. Although they could not understand a word of English, they were fascinated by the actors holding forth to each other, live. Foster was particularly moved by the rapt attention with which children looked up at the actors. She said the children could understand the passion the actors had for theatre, and that held their attention.

And, as the global tour crosses more borders and touches more hearts before it ends, immortal lines from Hamlet echo across beaches, temple yards, mountains, deserts and market squares — bringing experienced and first-time audiences the magic of Shakespeare, the way it did about 450 years ago, to resounding applause.