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The Winter's Tale in Yoruba by Renegade Theatre (C) Simon Annand

There are no bears in Nigeria, or at least it would seem so, from the opening moments of the reworking of The Winter’s Tale by the Renegade Theatre Company of Lagos….

All's Well that Ends Well performed in Gujarati by Arapana, (c) Ellie Kurttz

It is not unusual to note that, when adapting classical English texts that particularly deal with class systems and social hierarchies, from Shakespeare to Austen, the Indian caste system lends itself particularly well to direct translation…

Coriolanus in Japanese by Chiten (C) Simon Annand

Four people step onto the stage; one carries a fifth on his back. Two on-stage musicians provide the soundtrack. There are echoes of Noh theatre about the scene – some of the actors are even carrying masks….

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…

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…

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….

The Tempest by Dhaka Theatre in Bangla (C) Simon Kane

As I left the Globe on Monday night, my first thought was ‘Well, it’s The Tempest, Chris, but not as you know it’….