The members of the Globe Theatre will be performing Hamlet at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Moka on the 22nd of January. They have kindly accepted to answer our questions.

“Globe to Globe Hamlet” begun on the 23rd April 2014. What are the aims of this unprecedented theatrical adventure?

We are travelling to every country in the world. As in UK, Europe and America, we have performed Hamlet in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia. This marathon tour of Hamlet – co-directed by Dominic Dromgoole and another colleague, Bill Buckhurst – is to be performed in every single country on earth between 23 April 2014 and 23 April 2016. The former is the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, and the second is the quarter centenary of his death, for he is believed to have entered and exited life with uncanny timing, on the very same day of the year.

This project is a way of marking two very important anniversaries, but also of celebrating the fact that Shakespeare is an astonishing artist whose reach already crosses more geographical territory than, I think, any other writer in human history. Of course, in many of the places we have gone and are going to, audiences know Shakespeare’s work in-depth – but in other places, there have been people who’ve never heard of him.

Saying that, so far, every audience member knows the lines To be or not to be and we have even had some mouth it along with our actors. We also double and triple our actors so they play different parts. This has given the actors an in-depth insight into the play, so the performances have been a mutual learning process.

Twenty months later, do you feel that the aims have been achieved?

We are currently in Qatar and making our way to Djibouti where we will perform in a refugee camp for people from Yemen (we can’t get to Yemen for security reasons), so yes, we have definitely achieved our aim!

How is it like to play Hamlet throughout the globe? How many countries have you visited already?

160 so far and the experience has been unique in every country!

What are the challenges that you have to face?

For the company, the most challenging aspect is the travelling - often they set up in one day, perform and travel onto the next country that evening, so it can be tiring. Other times, the journeys are long - in Central America, between Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the company travelled by bus.

One of the journeys was over 16 hours long over thousands of kilometres. Again in Africa, between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda there was another long bus journey. Nevertheless, the journey becomes worthwhile when the company comes face to face with incredible, enthusiastic local audience. The actors can play multiple roles, so they swap in and out of the show and can give each other time off. Another challenge was in the Pacific islands, when we had to perform a light version of our show, with less set, props and costumes as the planes were too small to carry our luggage! It was a fantastic experience however and the audience was amazingly receptive. It shows the power of Shakespeare and the ability to tell his stories with limited staging.

How was the public response in the different countries you have been to?

In Uganda, the women thought it was a play about a woman’s right to remarry. In Kosovo, it was about politics and war. In the Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, the audience stood up when Claudius died. I think audiences naturally draw from their own experiences.

What were the most important moments of this tour up till now?

One very special performance was in Ukraine where we performed the show on the eve of the country’s presidential election and it felt very much like we were in the country at a very important time in their modern history which was both humbling and exhilarating.

In Rwanda, there was a power failure and we had to take the show from indoors to outdoors in 20 minutes. Luckily the audience was very supportive and attentive! After the show, lots of people in the audience wanted to stay and speak to us about the meaning behind the play.

How many people are part of the tour?

We have 16 company members. Twelve actors and four stage managers. We have three producers working on the tour and Tom, the Executive Producer oversees the whole operation. Then we have marketing and PR support and of course, the whole creative team including the directors Dominic and Bill, the choreographer Sían Williams, the composer Bill Barclay and the designer Jonathan Fensom who all support the tour.

How were the actors selected?

We worked with actors we trusted and had worked with before mainly, but we also held auditions. They’ll are sharing roles so that they get to take breaks and refresh. Rawiri Paratene who starred in the film Whale Rider is king of the Maori acting scene in New Zealand. He is playing Claudius and Polonius. One of our Hamlets, Ladi Emeruwa, is from Nigeria; the other, Naeem Hayat, is from a Muslim family in East London.

Jennifer Leong is one of our Ophelia’s. She’s a protégée of Hong Kong’s Tang Shu-wing company, which brought Titus Andronicus to Globe to Globe in 2012 and is returning this year with Macbeth.

During the tour, you often performed outdoors. Can a classic play like those of Shakespeare be performed anywhere?

Absolutely, we particularly love performing outdoors actually as itis in keeping with the way in which Shakespeare’s touring players would have toured, sometimes pitching up in town squares.

Why was Hamlet chosen among all of Shakespeare’s plays?

Hamlet is… well Hamlet. I think Hamlet, so beautiful and so perfect in form, has been a continually enriching experience for the company. It has ripened and developed on its journey, the actors have grown it, and can continue to reflect on what it means as it makes its way around the world.

Hamlet is also such a protean play that it can respond in very different ways to different places. In some places, it has challenged, in some inspired, in some consoled.

And its themes concerning parents and children, rebellion and depression seem pretty universal.

You are coming to Mauritius soon. What can we expect of the play? Is the set up classical or is it a contemporary adaptation?

We’re using a text that’s a mix of the Folio text of Hamlet and the First Quarto. The First Quarto was very much a touring version, roughly half the length of the Second Quarto. That means it’s got an energy, with a fast-moving narrative, and clarity. It will continue to stay fresh as each company member can double or triple up and play lots of different roles.

Do you think that Hamlet still holds a message for the new generations?

It’s sort of shocking how relevant and pertinent and powerful Shakespeare still is. He’s been gaining traction over the last 20 years, it seems almost exponentially. And I can only see that continuing over the next hundred or so, because there’s now a huge enthusiasm for Shakespeare in China, for example, and it’s growing in India.

Globe Theatre is a cultural heritage. How many visitors does it receive annually?

Over a million every year!

While you are touring the globe, is it business as usual back in London?

Yes, absolutely. We still have lots of plays to organise and visitors to welcome!