Emeruwa, Romain, others play Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Lagos

From left Uche Nwokedi (SAN), Matthew Romain, Ladi Emeruwa and Amanda Wilkin

A wonderful production and an extraordinary theatrical group, Hamlet Globe to Globe played in Lagos on 4^th and 5^th March 2015, at the MUSON Centre and St. Saviours School, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Synopsis: Learning of his father’s death, Prince Hamlet comes home to find his uncle married to his mother and installed on the Danish throne. At night, the ghost of the old king demands that Hamlet avenge his ‘foul and most unnatural murder’.

Encompassing political intrigue and sexual obsession, philosophical reflection and violent action, Hamlet is Shakespeare’s ‘poem unlimited’, a colossus in the story of the English language and the fullest expression of his genius.

Hamlet is one of the Shakespeare’s longest and philosophical plays. The Hamlet Globe to Globe tour opened at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, on 23 April 2014, the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. This unprecedented theatrical adventure is scheduled to tour every single country on earth over 2 years. 

Directed by the Globe’s Artistic Director, Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst, designed by Jonathan Fensom and composed by Bill Barclay.

This UK theatre production presented Nigerian actor, Ladi Emeruwa, in the shared role of Hamlet, together with an impressive international cast and crew of seventeen Including Amanda Wilkin and Matthew Romain, who played Horatio in the Globe’s small-scale touring production of Hamlet, which will visit every country between April 2o14 and April 23, 2016.

During an interactive session with the media, Amanda Wilkin said the project came about in 2012 and has gone beyond expectation. “Everyone has difference response to the play. It has gone beyond what we think of the play. It is in every country,” she added.

Ladi Emeruwa revealed that he was briefed about Hamlet at the MUSON Centre in Lagos when he attended a show, Kakadu. He revealed that he was born in Nigeria and studied Law at the University of Bristol before pursuing acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). He recently starred as Brutus in LAMDA’s Julius Caesar at Wilton’s Music Hall and on tour in Paris. In Lagos, Hamlet was performed at Ladi’s Alma matter, St. Saviour’s school.

Also speaking, Matthew Romain explained that, traveling to each country was quite challenging but, “it is the challenges that make it exciting.”

While lending credence to the cast’s views, Uche Nwokedi (SAN) spoke concerning the Nigerian audience by saying that they were vibrant. “They have regard for Hamlet and Shakespeare very high due to the emotion it invokes on people.”

Newswatch Times gathered that, following rave performances at The Globe, in Wittenberg, in Tromsø within the Arctic Circle, in Moscow, through the Baltics, in Kiev, at the United Nations in New York, at the oldest theatre in Central America, the majestic Teatro Nacional de El Salvador, on the banks of the St Lawrence River in Canada, in the shadow of Mexico’s Yucatán Cathedral, at a beautiful marina in Antigua & Barbuda, on a mountainside in Guatemala, in St Kitts and Nevis, in Poland, outdoors in Chilean parks, in Argentina, and across majestic national theatres throughout South America, Hamlet arrived in Africa in January 2015.

The first African performance was at Algeria's National Theatre. Hamlet Globe to Globe has since performed at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, the beautiful St Louis Cathedral in Carthage, Tunisia, at Ethiopia's National Theatre in Addis Ababa, as a free outdoor performance in Sudan - making its way through East Africa, from Somliland to Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda.

The cast and crew have travelled by boat, sleeper trains, jeeps, tall ships, buses and aeroplanes, across 7 continents to perform over 2 dozen parts on a stripped-down booth stage. The company of twelve actors and four stage managers has used a completely portable set to stage a Hamlet that celebrates all the exuberance and invention of Shakespeare’s language in a brisk two hours and forty minutes.

 The tour has attracted rave reviews internationally, including from The New York Times which describes it as “a production that prizes efficiency, clarity, accessibility and above all energy.” 

The Lagos event was supported by British Council, The Wheatbaker Hotel, MUSON Centre, The St. Saviours School, Ikoyi and media partners; Thisday, Bella Naija, Smooth FM, Cool FM, Ebonylife TV, Channels TV, The Guardian, Ndani TV and Levitate.