BLOG

As You Like It performed in Georgian by Marjanishvili Theatre (C) John Haynes

The Marjanishvili Theatre from Tablisi, Georgia, presents a delightful As You Like It which places the concept of ‘play’ at its centre….

King Lear in Belarusian by Belarus Free Theatre (C) Simon Kane

In their radically adapted version of King Lear, performed in Belarusian, exiled company Belarus Free Theatre refashions tragedy as burlesque…

King John in Armenian by Gabriel Sundukyan National Academic Theatre (C) Simon Annand

To start with a confession: I did not arrange to review this production because I have special knowledge of Armenia, its language or its theatre…

Henry IV Part 2 by Elkafka Espacio Teatral, Argentina. Performed in Spanish. (C) Ellie Kurttz

The rejection of Falstaff appears, here, not just good politics, but a generally good and necessary idea…

Henry IV Part 1 by Compania Nacional de Teatro, Mexico performed in Spanish (C) Ellie Kurttz

This company received no less than four curtain calls. Amazing. So the question is simply: how did they do it?

Henry VI Part 3 by National Theatre of Bitola performed in Macedonian (C) Marc Brenner

Henry VI Part Three depicts the brutality and suffering of civil war as a series of battles and death scenes, punctuated by blasted or ironised hopes of peace….

Henry VI Part 2 by National Theatre of Albania, in Albanian (C) Marc Brenner

Trimming of the original text meant that Cade’s compressed narrative shifted quickly into the play’s civil war phase, dominated by a splendidly forceful and splenetic Duke of York (Vasjan Lami) …

Henry VI Part 1 by National Theatre Belgrade in Assoc. Laza Kostic Fun in Serbian (C) Marc Brenner

Watching Shakespeare performed in half a dozen languages I don’t understand has made at least one thing clear: the most successful productions have used physical and non-verbal modes of expression to make the plays connect with Globe audiences…

The Two Gentlemen of Verona by Two Gents Productions in Shona (C) Ellie Kurttz

With a thud the trapdoor on the Globe stage was flung open and a head appeared…

Macbeth performed by Teatr im. Kochanowskiego in Polish (C) John Haynes

With the Polish-langauge Makbet, Teatr im. Kochanowskiego brings a seedy Scotland to the Globe Theatre’s 2012 Globe-to Globe season….