Globe Theatre to bring Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ to every country in the world

The Globe theatre announced an ambitious way to celebrate William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday next year. The theatre group plans to bring Hamlet to 205 countries, visiting North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East.

The Guardian reports that the tour will start on April 23, 2014, which would have been the Bard’s 450th birthday and then travel by planes, trains, boats and buses, performing in every country in the world. It will take two years to complete the tour.

Dominic Dromgoole, the group’s artistic director, commented, “I think having a lunatic idea is a very good thing, it's a great way to keep everybody focused and dazzled and delighted by the ambition and energy of the company.” He added, “If we're going to do every country in the world it has to be every country, we're not going to leave anyone out. All the 'Stans, South and North Korea – we're very keen to get into North Korea. Antarctica? F**k yes.”

According to The Telegraph, the play will be abridged to 150 minutes and have a cast of eight. Theatre director Peter Brook is sure that everyone will understand the play’s most famous line, even though the play will only be performed in English.

“The six simplest words in the English language are 'To be or not to be.' There is hardly a corner of the planet where these words have not been translated,” Brook told The Telegraph.

Reuters notes that the globe previously brought the Bard’s work to an international audience last year, during a festival, performing 37 plays in 37 languages.

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