Press Release: 17 January 2011
Shakespeare, Hamlet and Wittenberg Globe Education announces programme for Spring 2011
In 1517, Martin Luther nailed The Ninety-Five Theses onto the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg, thus providing the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. Globe Education’s programme for Spring 2011 explores the impact that Wittenberg had on early-modern English drama with a series of inspiring events.
Patrick Spottiswoode, Director, Globe Education, explains: “Last autumn we claimed that Shakespeare is German and explored the extraordinary impact that Shakespeare has had on German drama and culture. The theme continues this Spring with events examining the influence of Wittenberg on the Elizabethan stage, on Marlow’s Dr Faustus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.”
The season opens with a London premiere of a new print of Sven Gade’s classic 1920 silent film Hamlet, with a live, improvised piano accompaniment played by Neil Brand. The film stars silver screen goddess Asta Nielsen in the title role, as a Hamlet born a girl but raised as a boy as part of a dynasty determined to retain the crown in the aftermath of war.
In a series of lectures at the Globe, Professor Ewan Fernie and Dr Adrian Streete will explore the relationship between Shakespeare’s Theatre and the Protestant Reformation. Frank Günther will discuss the art and politics of translating Shakespeare’s plays into German with particular reference to Hamlet. Globe Education’s Read Not Dead series will feature a staged reading of David Davalos’ acclaimed 2008 play Wittenberg which wittily imagines conversations between Luther, Doctor Faustus and Hamlet at the university.
The German connection continues in March with the fifth annual staging of Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank. Over 14,000 students from schools across London will receive free tickets to a professional production of Macbeth produced especially for them by Globe Education, thanks to the ongoing support of Deutsche Bank. There will also be a limited number of tickets available for two free performances open to the public on 5 and 11 March.
Further afield, students from primary and secondary schools and schools for children with additional needs will create an ensemble performance of The Tempest on 17 March as the culmination of this year’s Our Theatre project. Conservatory acting students from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, will end their year-long residency at the Globe with a performance of Twelfth Night on the Globe stage on 25 March, directed by Globe actor and director Timothy Walker.
The Spring programme comes to a celebratory close on 3 April with the 2011 Sam Wanamaker Festival, when 44 students from 22 of the UK’s leading drama schools and two Rutgers students gather for a weekend of workshops before presenting 23 scenes by Shakespeare and his contemporaries on the Globe stage. The afternoon’s public performance provides a mix of tragical, historical, pastoral and comical duologues culminating in one mighty festive finale jig.
The programme will be supported by a series of special events, entitled The Heard Word: Pulpit vs Playhouse, which will run throughout the summer to complement the 2011 Theatre Season The Word is God. Further details are available at www.shakespearesglobe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/ ENDS Further information and images are available from Eleanor Lovegrove at Shakespeare’s Globe Press Office on 020 7902 1468, eleanor.l@shakespearesglobe.com
Shakespeare, Hamlet and Wittenberg – listings information 6.45pm, Thursday 27 January 2011 at BFI Southbank, NFT1 Screening – Sven Gade’s Hamlet The new print of Sven Gade’s film with live piano accompaniment. Tickets: BFI Members £7.60 (£5.25 concs); Non-members £9 (£6.65 concs); under 16s £5 Booking: BFI box office 020 7928 3232 (11.30 – 20.30 daily) or www.bfi.org.uk Please note amendments from previous listings information.
7pm, Thursday 10 February 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe Lecture – Shakespeare’s Great Feast of Language Prepared by German Cooks Frank Günther gives the inaugural lecture in a series which will celebrate and explore how Shakespeare has been translated into over 90 languages. Tickets: £10 (£8 Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe, Concessions, Students). Available through the box office. Contact details supplied at the end. Sunday 13 February 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe 12-2pm, Rarely Played seminar introduction to the following Read not Dead performance 3-6pm, staged reading – Wittenberg (2008) Tickets: seminar £13 (£10 Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe, Concessions, Students); staged reading £8 (£5 Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe, Concessions, Students). Available through the box office. 7pm, Thursday 17 February 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe Lecture – Shakespeare’s Theatre and the Reformation Dr Adrian Streete explores the fascinating relationship between Shakespeare’s theatre and the European Reformation. Tickets: £10 (£8 Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe, Concessions, Students). Available through the box office. 7pm, Thursday 24 February 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe Lecture – ‘Sin Bravely’: Luther, Faustus, Hamlet and Macbeth Martin Luther infamously told his associate Melancthon to ‘sin bravely.’ This talk will argue that some of the greatest heroes of Renaissance drama do just that. Tickets: £10 (£8 Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe, Concessions, Students). Available through the box office. 2pm, Saturday 5 March and 7pm, Friday 11 March at Shakespeare’s Globe Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank: Macbeth Globe Education’s fifth annual professional production created especially for young people and supported by Deutsche Bank. Tickets: Free. Public booking for free performances opens Monday 21 February. Available through the box office. 1pm, Thursday 17 March 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe Our Theatre: The Tempest Students from 12 primary and secondary schools and schools for students with additional needs work with their teachers and Globe Education Practitioners create an ensemble performance recreating Prospero’s island on the Globe stage. Tickets: Free. A limited number of free tickets are available and must be booked in advance. Please email community@shakespearesglobe.com 6.30pm, Friday 25 March 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare’s Globe: Twelfth Night Conservatory acting students from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, end their Globe residency with a performance of Twelfth Night on the Globe stage, directed by Timothy Walker. Tickets: Free. A limited number of free tickets are available for this workshop performance. Please email courses@shakespearesglobe.com or call 020 7902 1469 for further information.
4pm, Sunday 3 April 2011 at Shakespeare’s Globe 2011 Sam Wanamaker Festival 44 students from 22 of the UK’s leading drama schools and two Rutgers students gather for a weekend of workshops before presenting 23 scenes by Shakespeare and his contemporaries on the Globe stage. Tickets: Seating £10; Standing £5. Available through the box office.
Shakespeare’s Globe box office: 020 7401 9919 or www.shakespearesglobe.com