McGregor, Hunter, Sewell and More To Perform 'Hamlet' At Globe

Shakespeare's Globe will present The Factory's production of Hamlet at midnight on September 6th. September 6th marks one year since The Factory performed a secret performance of Hamlet to a small invited audience of Facebook friends.
 
Following those performances, word quickly spread about the unique nature of the shows, and the company decided to perform every Sunday, somewhere in London at a secret location, revealed on the internet only days before. Before long, larger venues had to be found to accommodate the crowds congregating at the designated venues each week. Every performance has sold out since.
 
Appearances and special cameo performances include Kathryn Hunter, Ewan McGregor, Rufus Sewell, Will Keen, Angus Wright, (with an exceptionally special guest planned for the midnight matinee).
 
Artistic Directors of The Factory, Tim Evans and Alex Hassell wished to see if it was possible to produce a hit show with no money, no advertising, no theatre, and no discernible touring schedule. Insisting that if the work was of the highest standard, and that it reconnected audiences with Shakespeare in an immediate and truly live way, then the audiences would keep coming. So far it has worked.
 
It attracted the attention of Dominic Dromgoole, who after attending a show, wished to see it performed at Shakespeare's Globe. It will play as a special, one-night-only, anniversary performance.
 
The production is the brainchild of director Tim Carroll.
 
Every character in the play can be performed from a selection of different actors each night, as each performer has learnt numerous parts. You may for example, see an actor playing Hamlet one night, and Guildenstern the next.

The cast will not know which character they will be playing until just before the show begins, when the audience decide.
 
There is no set. What the actors perform on depends entirely on where The Factory has decided to play. If there is a set, it will belong to someone else's production, which will be used for that one occasion, in this case, the set of the Globe's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
 
There are no designated props. Any object that you see on stage or used by an actor will come from the audience. It may be a shoe, a phone, a inflatable dingy...
 
ANYTHING you can bring in to be used. Audience members are encouraged to bring as weird and bold a prop that they can think of! ( Please note, the theater cannot accept responsibility for damaged props! )
 
Directed by Tim Carroll.
With Tamara Harvey and Louis Scheeder.
 
Tim Carroll began his career with the English Shakespeare Company. From 1999 to 2005 he was Associate Director of Shakespeare!s Globe. His many innovative and celebrated productions for the Globe include, Twelfth Night (which received Evening Standard, Olivier, Time Out and Critic!s Circle awards), Richard II, Romeo and Juliet and, in 2005, The Tempest, starring Mark Rylance and Co-Artistic Director of The Factory, Alex Hassell. His RSC production of The Merchant of Venice is currently playing to sold-out houses in Stratford.

Websites:

www.shakespeares-globe.org
www.seehamlet.co.uk
www.factorytheatre.co.uk

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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