This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

Avatar photo

Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

14th April 2016

Shakespeare at the Vatican: family, mercy and a red hat

Hamlet at the Vatican
Hamlet at the Palazzo della Cancelleria, 13 April 2016. Photo credits: Aliona Adrianova/Shakespeare’s Globe

How could the British embassy to the Holy See contribute to the Shakespeare 400th anniversary this year? There is an extraordinary programme of official events organised under the Shakespeare Lives banner, but the Vatican was not an obvious element. And although the Royal Shakespeare Company had performed Shakespearean excerpts before Pope Paul VI in 1964, the theatre and the Holy See are not natural bedfellows.

Or so we thought. But an extraordinary performance of Hamlet earlier this week by Shakespeare’s Globe, supported by the embassy, changed minds. This was the first ever performance of a full Shakespeare play on Vatican territory, and part of the ambitious Globe-to-Globe tour of Hamlet to every country in the world over two years: the Vatican was country number 191, and the performance just ten days before the finale on 23 April in London. When the Globe asked us for our help over six months ago, we were more than happy to be involved.

The venue we found, the 16th century Palazzo della Cancelleria, a World Heritage Site with extraterritorial status normally used as one of the Vatican law courts, turned out to be very special. With the lightest but most creative of sets, the Globe transformed it into the Palace of Elsinore, and the Vatican stage added a new dimension to a production that has travelled from refugee camps to amphitheatres. When Claudius invokes the angels as he prays, trying to repent for his crime, there they were on the walls above his head. When Hamlet calls on heaven to hear his cry of revenge – and, if not heaven, then hell – the inscription “Justitia et Pax” engraved above the Palace doorway just behind him brought an extra resonance to his bitter words. Hamlet even donned a Cardinal’s hat for his “mad” scenes; a standard part of the production, rather than put on for the occasion, I was told!

The relevance of the play, and its messages, to the Holy See of Pope Francis were also made palpable by seeing Hamlet performed right here. The Globe’s tour has, quite deliberately, taken Shakespeare’s deep humanity to the peripheries – four nights before they were playing in Kabul – underlining the universality of a playwright who, 400 years after his death, still speaks to modern man, be he in Afghanistan, Somaliland, or, indeed, the Vatican. A week after the publication of the Pope’s Apostolic Letter on the Family, in front of our eyes was a play about family love, relationships, disagreement and disintegration. And in this Year of Mercy, here was one of the most powerful examples in literature of what a world without mercy – or with mercy trampled, like Ophelia, underfoot – could look like, the world of Elsinore.

It’s not all that often that one has a chance to be part of a Vatican “first”. The Globe made the occasion. The Pontifical Council for Culture, and the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, had the vision to support it. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the Bard himself. On his 400th anniversary, we salute this genius for all time.

7 comments on “Shakespeare at the Vatican: family, mercy and a red hat

  1. Thank you for posting such an inspiring message about Hamlet as performed at the Vatican within the transcendent environment of the Palozzo della Cancelleria. Life’s deepest, widest and most profound meaning is always found in faith’s true knowledge. Shakespeare would have been greatly pleased.

  2. Nigel,
    What a wonderful way to enlarge the audience that appreciates Shakespeare in a location that, as you say, added to the intensity of the performance in many ways.
    Well done,
    Claire Baker

  3. It was, indeed, an unforgettable performance of Hamlet! I had seen it on stage before, with Vladimir Vysotsky as Hamlet, shortly before his death and i remember it was a splendid performance. Globe-to-Globe Hamlet was, truly, as good as the play itself. Many thanks to the Embassy of Britain to the Holy See for this extraordinary encounter with Shakespeare. Tamara Grdzelidze

  4. I am sure that Pope Francis would have much appreciated this performance. Too bad it wasn’t filmed. Well done to the Embassy gor having organised such a unique event for the few fortunate members of the audience

  5. A very special evening.

    The performance was engaging, innovative, entertaining and thought-provoking. I have seen Hamlet many times but never all roles played by just 8 actors!

    What an exceptional experience for the younger cast members – seeing and learning all over the world as well as honing their craft performing in such diverse situations and locations and learning the secrets of interpreting Shakespeare from the older members of the cast.

    “Hats off” to Ambassador Baker, his staff, and the Vatican for making this event possible and memorable.

Comments are closed.

About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

Follow Nigel