Shakespeare’s Globe announces Summer Season 2024

Shakespeare’s Globe is set to captivate audiences with its Summer Season, spanning from April to October 2024.

The iconic theatre announces a diverse and exciting programme, featuring classic Shakespeare plays and new productions.

Opening the season on 25 April, Sean Holmes, the Associate Artistic Director, directs Much Ado About Nothing. Ekow Quartey and Amalia Vitale will take on the lead roles of Benedick and Beatrice. The production, set in Elizabethan dress, promises to transform the Globe Theatre into a lavish paradise, with a cast including Calum Callaghan, John Lightbody, and Adam Wadsworth.

From 9 May, the Globe’s Artistic Director, Michelle Terry, plays the title role in Richard III, directed by Elle While. This production delves into the charisma and enduring fascination with evil, showcasing Michelle Terry’s versatility and depth as an actor.

The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Jude Christian in her Globe Theatre directorial debut, runs from 6 June. This version of Shakespeare’s contentious comedy promises an absurd and carnivalesque experience.

Blanche McIntyre returns to direct Antony and Cleopatra, starting from 4 August. This innovative bilingual production, featuring Nadia Nadarajah as Cleopatra, will use both Spoken English and British Sign Language, offering a unique take on Shakespeare’s epic tale.

Following its success in 2023, The Comedy of Errors, co-directed by Sean Holmes and Naeem Hayat, returns to the Globe from 21 August before embarking on a tour. The production brings the chaos and joy of Elizabethan London to life.

Princess Essex, running from 13 September, is a new play written by and starring Anne Odeke. Directed by Robin Belfield, this comedy is based on the true story of Princess Dinubolu, a pioneering figure in British pageantry.

From 20 July, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse will host Rough Magic. This new family show, brought by the team behind Midsummer Mechanicals, features the Weird Sisters from Macbeth in a supernaturally silly adventure.

The season also includes the flagship project for secondary schools, Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank Romeo & Juliet, directed by Globe Director of Education Lucy Cuthbertson. Additionally, a collaboration between the Globe and the World Health Organisation is announced, along with a book launch at the Globe for Decolonising the Theatre Space: A Conversation.

Michelle Terry, Artistic Director, said: “As a society, we’re only as free and healthy as the stories we tell about ourselves: “to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to nature”. The best stories provide an opportunity for us to engage with the biggest issues, ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Why do some stories inspire us to action and endure, and why do some hold little weight with us at all? Where, as human beings, are we afforded a safe space for exploration, experimentation, reflection, and conversation. A space to at least question the issues, ideas, thoughts, and feelings that have the power to change our lives for good or for bad?

“Theatres should be that space. With Shakespeare and the Globe, we hope to provide an opportunity for all people to engage and participate in stories, told carefully, kindly, boldly, and bravely, with rigour, heart, and beautiful imperfection infused with a life affirming desire to question what it means to be human and hopefully inspire us all to engage in the conversation.”