Shakespeare's Globe is hosting a free open day on Sunday (22 April), to launch its "slightly bananas" Globe to Globe Festival. (Where all 37 Shakespeare plays will be performed in 37 different languages over six weeks.)
Continuing to celebrate the theme of language, Sonnet Sunday will see all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets performed in more than 25 different languages.
Look out for sonnets in Noongar, one of the indigenous languages of Australia; Owain Arthur (currently starring in One Man, Two Guvnors in the West End) reciting in Welsh; Czech actors accompanying their sonnets with traditional Czech puppetry; and sonnets read in Somali and Cree.
Other languages appearing for your aural pleasure include Romanian, Swedish, Flemish, Hungarian, Gaelic, Farsi, Icelandic, Bulgarian, Arabic, Latvian and more…
Alongside all the sonnets, there'll be an international food market in the Underglobe below the theatre; dancers from Northern India; and a beautiful a cappella world choir, the Wing-It Singers performing songs from Eastern Europe. Doors open at 10am and the last admittance is 4.30pm. In the evening, you can catch a performance of Venus & Adonis, Shakespeare's dramatic poem by the Isango Ensemble from Cape Town from 6.30pm. Tickets from just £5.
Sonnet Sunday takes place on Sunday 22 April at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, New Globe Walk, Bankside, Southwark, London, SE1 9DT. Entrance is free. Visit shakespearesglobe.com for more information.
Photo by tezzer57 from the Londonist Flickr pool
