Shakespeare's Globe Announces Winter 2022 Season

The Winter Season in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse will open on 10 November with Henry V directed by Headlong Artistic Director Holly Race Roughan and co-produced by the Globe and Headlong with Leeds Playhouse and Royal & Derngate, Northampton. The season also includes Shakespeare's deadly revenge tragedy, Titus Andronicus (directed by Jude Christian), and The Winter's Tale (directed by Sean Holmes) in a production taking place both in the Playhouse and Globe Theatre. Globe writer-in-residence Hannah Khalil will premiere a new play, Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights. The co-production with Tamasha will be directed by Pooja Ghai. The Fir Tree returns over Christmas for open-air festive family fun, directed by Michelle Terry.

Flagship Secondary schools project 'Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank' returns for 17th year with The Tempest. Opening 2 March, the dynamic production is created especially for young people, with over 26,000 free tickets for pupils at London and Birmingham state schools. The Globe's Education department will be celebrating decades of world-class scholarship and discoveries in early modern theatre and performance with a 'Teach In'. Scholars, artists, and craftspeople who know most about the two unique theatres will join together on 1 October. The Shakespeare's Globe Book Award returns with a £3,000 prize for a Shakespeare scholar whose first book has made an outstanding contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the theatre of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Michelle Terry, Artistic Director, said: This winter season, we are celebrating humanity's seemingly endless capacity for love, rage, jealousy, tyranny, imagination, forgiveness, hope and redemption. Opening with the bombastic and single-minded Henry V, followed by the hedonistic and bloodthirsty Titus Andronicus, into the soaring drama of The Winter's Tale, which will see the audience journey between both our playhouses. I'm thrilled that this season also hosts our resident playwright Hannah Khalil's new play, Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, a potent and urgent re-imagining with five defiant women telling stories to save their lives. It is with hope and joy that we can see the return of our festive offering The Fir Tree. Scuppered by Omicron in 2021, this joyous show will once again fill the outdoor Globe Theatre with festive fun, song, and puppets. With tickets from £5, I look forward to welcoming audiences both indoors and outdoors for an array of powerful stories told by enchanting candlelight and moonlight.

Upcoming productions and events for 2022 / 2023:

Shakespeare's Globe Teach-In

On 1 October, 'Shakespeare's Globe Teach-In' will celebrate decades of scholarship and research, as part of celebrating 25 years of performance at the Globe. The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse will host scholars, artists, and craftspeople who have been part of the discoveries over the years in early modern theatre and performance. Speakers include Dr Sarah Dustagheer, Jon Greenfield, Peter McCurdy, Michelle Terry, Dr Will Tosh and more.

Telling Tales

October half-term (22 - 29 October) will see the return of Telling Tales with a series of live 'Storytellings' and interactive 'Family Workshops' for kids aged 5-12 and their grown-ups. Delve into the spooky Macbeth, discover the magic of The Winter's Tale, or rub shoulders with Danish royalty in Hamlet. Practical and interactive workshops will also be held 25 - 27 October for 12+ and 15+ groups, bringing Shakespeare's plays to life using practical drama activities to dive into a play's language, characters, and themes. The workshops will explore Othello, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear.

Henry V

Opening 10 November (running until 4 February), Henry V is performed in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse for the first time. Co-produced by Shakespeare's Globe and Headlong with Leeds Playhouse and Royal & Derngate, Northampton, directed by their Artistic Director Holly Race Roughan (Corrina, Corrina, Liverpool Everyman, Metamorphoses, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), the production explores the bombastic, single-minded pursuit of Henry V, our nation's history and what it means to be 'British'.

Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights

Opening 1 December, Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights is a new play written by Globe writer-in-residence Hannah Khalil (The Fir Tree, Henry VIII, Globe). The co-production with Tamasha is directed by their Artistic Director, Pooja Ghai (Lotus Beauty, Hampstead, Lions and Tigers, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), with writing contributions from Hanan al-Shaykh, Suhayla El-Bushra and Sara Shaarawi, and translations by Hassan Abdulrazzak . Hakawati /hakəˈwɑːti/. Noun: Storyteller. From the Arabic terms hekaye meaning story and haki meaning to talk. A tyrant revenges his wife's infidelity by wedding, bedding, and beheading a new bride every day. Years later, only five brides-in-waiting remain.  

The Fir Tree

From 15 - 31 December, The Fir Tree returns to the open-air Globe Theatre, directed by Artistic Director Michelle Terry and written by Hannah Khalil. This re-imagining of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale will include puppets, carol-singing, and tree decorating. Families are invited to enjoy some festive fun with a mulled wine or hot chocolate under the wintry star-lit sky.

Titus Andronicus

From 19 January, Titus Andronicus will be directed by Jude Christian (Dark Night of the Soul, Nanjing, Globe). Shakespeare's most deadly revenge tragedy will be performed in the Playhouse for the first time. After a brutal 10-year battle, honoured Roman general Titus Andronicus embarks on an era of bloodshed when he refuses to show mercy to the eldest son of Tamora, Queen of the Goths. Betrayed by his nation, and with his family in ruins, Titus seeks justice the only way he knows how - tooth for tooth and limb for limb. Candles burn and the bodies pile up, as director Jude Christian explores the macabre madness that takes us to the edge of humanity.

The Winter's Tale

From 9 February, The Winter's Tale will be directed by Associate Artistic Director Sean Holmes. For the first time ever, this production will traverse between both iconic theatres, with the audience journeying from the aristocratic luxury of Sicilia in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse to the pastoral playground of Bohemia in The Globe Theatre. Sean Holmes' production will explore the destructive and redemptive power of love. The Winter's Tale marks the start of the Globe's year-long Folio 400th Anniversary celebrations.

Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank

From 2 March, flagship project for secondary schools, 'Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank', returns for its 17th year. The dynamic 90-minute production will be The Tempest, created especially for young people. There are over 26,000 free tickets for pupils aged 11-16 at London and Birmingham state schools, with subsidised tickets for schools nationwide.

The Shakespeare's Globe Book Award is returning with a £3,000 prize given to a scholar whose first book has made an outstanding contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the theatre of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Books published in 2020, 2021 and 2022 will be considered for the 2023 award, and submission information will soon be available on the Globe's website.

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