Globe on Tour brings Shakespeare to the Minack this summer

The company, bringing the action from London’s Globe Theatre to the rest of the world, is continuing its revival of the Shakespearean tradition that allows audiences to vote for the play they’d like to see performed that night, with the actors never knowing which it will be until seconds beforehand.

At the start of each production the cast will assemble on stage to introduce their characters before voting take place by way of applause, with the play receiving the loudest ovation immediately beginning – to the point that they will still be putting their costumes on as they say the opening lines of the play.

This year’s audiences will be asked to choose from The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night or Pericles: three stories centring around families, new homes and what it means to belong, as part of a wider theme for this year of refuge and displacement.

As such, the eight-strong cast will have to learn all three plays and be ready to slip into their appropriate character at a moment’s notice.

Globe on Tour lets the audience decide the play

Director Brendan O’Hea said: “I’m so pleased to be back on the road with the Touring Ensemble, transporting the spirit of the Globe around the world with simple, clear storytelling which brings Shakespeare to all.

“This year we’ll be setting out across the UK, Europe and beyond performing Shakespeare’s refuge plays: three stories of displacement, scattered families and what it means to be at home. At a time in which so many people, communities and whole countries are wrestling with their sense of belonging, there couldn’t be a better time to journey out with this particular trio of plays.

“And, like the Elizabethan touring players before us, we will leave the choice of play to the most powerful person in the room: the audience.”

In a run that also includes the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong, Globe on Tour will be at Porthcurno’s Minack Theatre from June 25 to 28.

Twelfth Night

The classic story of mistaken identity leading to a love triangle, the play centres around twins Viola and Sebastian after they are separated in a shipwreck.

Viola, who disguises herself as a man called Cesario, secretly falls in love with Duke Orsino – but he is in love with the Countess Olivia. However, she, in turn, falls in love with Viola, believing her to be a man when they meet. Then Sebastian, who looks identical to his twin sister, enters the picture.

The Comedy of Errors

One of William Shakespeare's early plays, most of the humour comes from slapstick and mistaken identity, along with puns and word play.

Set in Greece, it too focuses on identical twins – two sets, in fact, who are accidentally separated at birth. When Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in what turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus, there follows wrongful beatings, a near-seduction and an arrest, plus false accusations of infidelity, madness and even demonic possession.

Pericles

A lesser known Shakespeare play, there has long been debate over whether the playwright is actually responsible for writing all it or just co-authored.

This one features a narrator, who tells the story of a kingdom where a king and his daughter are engaging in incest. The king tries to prevent suitors from marrying his daughter by challenging them to correctly answer a riddle or die. Then Pericles, Prince of Tyre, steps up to try.