Shakespeare’s Globe will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible next year with a season entitled The Word Is God that includes its own take on The Mystery Plays and a production of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.
The Globe Mysteries, which plays from 5 August, will use street theatre and processional performance to lend a fresh perspective to the Bible stories told in the medieval Mystery Plays. A darker side of the religious theme will be explored in Doctor Faustus (from 18 June), Marlowe’s tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil.
The season will also include two of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, All’s Well That Ends Well – the first main production of the season beginning on 27 April – and Much Ado About Nothing (from 21 May).
The theatre’s tradition of presenting new work alongside classics continues with Chris Hannan’s The God Of Soho (from 27 August), described as a “wild satire on modern living set in contemporary, suburban England”, and the return of Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn (from 8 July), which premiered at the Globe this year.
The season will be preceded by an unstaged complete reading of the Bible and a small-scale production of Hamlet which plays at Shakespeare’s Globe on the Bard’s birthday, 23 April, before commencing a UK tour. According to a release, the two events present “a rare opportunity to experience the two foundation stones of the modern English language back-to-back”.
Shakespeare’s Globe is currently dark after the end of its 2010 Kings And Rogues season, which drew to a close in October after extending two of its shows. The season achieved 91% attendance, the highest in the venue’s 13-year history.
Prior to next year’s summer activities, the outdoor venue will brave the cold for a limited period over the winter to present four performances of Winter Wassail (1-3 January), a musical celebration featuring the Gabrieli Consort & Players.
Booking for the 2011 season opens on 14 February.
CB