Hamlet: Globe to Globe: 193,000 Miles, 197 Countries, One Play

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

Over two full years, Dromgoole, the Artistic Director of the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and the Globe players toured all seven continents, and almost 200 countries, performing the Bard's most famous play. They set their stage in sprawling refugee camps, grand Baltic palaces and heaving marketplaces - despite food poisoning in Mexico, an Ebola epidemic in West Africa and political upheaval in Ukraine.

Hamlet: Globe to Globe tells the story of this unprecedented theatrical adventure, in which Dromgoole shows us the world through the prism of Shakespeare's universal drama, and asks how a 400-year-old tragedy can bring the world closer together.

Reviews

Richly entertaining . . . His love of language is contagious . . . the storytelling segues into scholarship with extraordinary skill from the off as he ricochets the modern world with a 400-year-old text * * The Times * *
Taking in sandblown refugee camps, the hallucinatory effects of performing with chronic food poisoning in Mexico City and the politically-charged atmosphere of an auditorium in Ukraine on an election's eve, it is an entertaining, moving and informative read * * Evening Standard * *
Dromgoole's witty account offers insight about the play and its enduring appeal * * New York Times, 100 Notable Books of 2017 * *
Full of life lessons . . . Erudite and fascinating . . . There's a real sense of the camaraderie and sheer fun of assembling a company and, quite literally, putting the show on wherever they can . . . The universal themes explored in the play take on a new and thrilling resonance, as the actors learn as much from their audiences as vice versa . . . Truly compelling * * Observer * *
A delightfully idiosyncratic account of the Globe's vagabond mission to perform Hamlet in every country in the world . . . the joy of the book is Dromgoole's gusto . . . the way he meanders from personal anecdote to wider textual or cultural significance makes his book feel like a shaggy-dog documentary that you just don't want to end **** * * Daily Telegraph * *
Compulsively readable * * New York Times * *
Delivers sharp insights into a play Dromgoole has spent a lifetime turning over in his mind * * Guardian * *
This deeply humane, consistently enthralling account of a theatrical odyssey encompasses travelogue and literary criticism, theatre history and introspective narrative, political commentary and philosophical reflection with beguiling readability -- Sir Stanley Wells

Dominic Dromgoole's recounting of the Globe Theatre's exhausting global tour of Hamlet is exhilarating. The playing company's intrepid journey around the world - performing Hamlet's own troubled journey - succeeds in making the familiar unfamiliar and enables in turn a deeply illuminating journey into the play itself.

-- James Shapiro, author of 1599 and 1606
An epic journey which explores how a 400-year-old play can help to make sense of the modern world * * Sunday Post * *
Fascinating * * Spectator * *
Dromgoole and his company belong in the ancient tradition of strolling players - quick-witted and wise, generous, hard-drinking and open. His book is written in that spirit. It is bold and excited, hopeful, dashing . . . By the time we reach the final show back on London's Southbank, it is a wrench to part his company * * Financial Times * *
Irresistible . . . a comic epic -- Gary Taylor * * Washington Post * *
The tireless Dromgoole goes on a journey that would kill most of us, and connects our greatest poet to every corner of the human experience. Utterly extraordinary -- Emma Thompson

This is an amazing story about a bold and eye-popping journey. I loved it. Dominic Dromgoole writes about Shakespeare and touring the globe the way he ran The Globe - with passion, insight, relish and irresistible humour

-- Sir Nicholas Hytner, The Artistic Director of Londons National Theatre
Compelling . . . proving, as Dromgoole had hoped, that this powerful tragedy not only has the ability to transcend time but to cross borders as well * * National Geographic * *
In Dromgoole's breakneck journey from a retractable-roof theater in Poland to a crammed cream-and-gold palace in Peru to a sweltering, bat-infested auditorium in Cambodia, the narrative covers an astonishing swath of world-girdling geography . . . No chronicle ever gave more compelling meaning to Shakespeare's conviction that 'all the world's a stage' * * Booklist * *
[A] thoroughly enjoyable and charming story . . . Besides detailing the two-year tour itself, it's a story of the play, its themes and language, famous past players, and how it has been performed and received over the years . . . Sly, witty, and delightful - a glorious Shakespearean romp * * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * *
Dromgoole is wise and witty; thoughtful, self-assured, even cocky . . . But he is never dull. His mission was to bring Hamlet to the world to show that Hamlet is the world, and he succeeded admirably. A wide readership, not just Shakespeare buffs and scholars, can enjoy this book * * Publishers Weekly * *

Praise for WILL AND ME:

'An absolute delight . . . utterly original and relishable'

* * Sunday Times * *
Friendly, inclusive, I warmed to it immediately . . . A terrific book * * Evening Standard * *
Superb . . . thrillingly entertaining . . . throbs with vigour, honesty and passion * * Daily Telegraph * *
Dromgoole is to the bard what Nick Hornby is to football * * Sunday Telegraph * *
A record of a lifelong obsession - articulate, intelligent and passionately set down . . . Dromgoole's enthusiasm has a sincerity and warmth that are infectious * * Observer * *
Irresistibly seductive * * Independent on Sunday * *

Author Bio

Dominic Dromgoole was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London from 2006 to 2016. He is the author of The Full Room: An A-Z of Contemporary Playwriting and of Will and Me: How Shakespeare Took Over My Life, which won the inaugural Sheridan Morley prize. He regularly contributes to the Sunday Times and other publications.