A terrific Saturday evening at the Jerudong International School’s Arts Centre watching the Globe Theatre company from London perform William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
It’s a unique project. Starting last year and finishing in April 2016 (the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death), the Globe Theatre aims to tour this production to every country in the world. Brunei was the 127th country visited. Saturday’s show was extra special as it was the 200th performance.
It was a lively and imaginative production. Without cumbersome scenery – impossible anyway on a world tour – the focus was on the actors themselves, just as it would have been in Shakespeare’s day.
After the performance, I joined the cast’s Q & A with local students. The actors spoke about how the production had changed on tour, the challenge of rotating roles, the different audience reactions and how they dealt with the unexpected in performance. They made the point that you don’t need big budgets for costume and scenery – a little imagination goes a long way.
Congratulations to the JIS Board, Principal Barnaby Sandow and his colleagues for making this happen. Also to Royal Brunei Airlines for its sponsorship. I hope Brunei will host other companies in the future and encourage local performing arts groups. Boosting the creative sector could be a valuable part of Brunei’s economic diversification – as the UK and many other countries have found.
#G2G #Shakespeare400 #ShakespeareLives #JIS