In Other Words: Global Shakespearean Transformations

Abstract

Throughout the 2012 Globe-to-Globe Festival in London, I was fortunate to receive regular electronic reports from American radio and film producer Steve Rowland. Rowland attended the 37 Shakespeare plays being presented in 37 different languages at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre as part of the Cultural Olympiad.¹ In conjunction with this undertaking, he interviewed many of the participating artists and directors for a radio series about the Festival, which aired in the United States on National Public Radio.² These rich audio narratives provide glimpses into the individual cultural valences each international company brought to its specialized Shakespearean contribution. From segments on the South Sudanese Cymbeline to the Greek Pericles, and the Balkan Trilogy of Henry VI, parts one, two, and three, Rowland’s ambitious radio project presents some of the diverse cultural, political, and historical perspectives each theatrical company offered as they interwove Shakespearean drama with their own heritage in order to present audience members with a dramatic introduction to their culture and arts traditions.