Mark Rylance curates pop-up Shakespeare during Paralympics
Ever wanted to bump into Macbeth on your morning commute? Desdemona in your lunch break? These dreams (or nightmares) could become reality as Shakespearean characters start emerging from London crowds in September.
As part of the London 2012 Festival, actors will take to London hotspots and deliver surprise Shakespeare speeches in an “ambush” artwork devised by multi award-winning actor Mark Rylance.
What You Will: Pop-Up Shakespeare will see 50 actors selected by the Globe spring up around London, performing a mixture of one-on-one performances and “flash mob moments.” Appearances confirmed by the Mayor of London’s office include Puck, Hamlet, Cleopatra and Juliet.
The event, which is part of the London 2012 festival, runs during the first week of the Paralympic games: 28 August to 2 September – locations and details of the day’s performances will be revealed each morning via the @molpresents and @London2012Fest Twitter accounts.
Rylance, the former artistic director of the Globe who is currently starring in Richard III at the Southbank venue, described the project as “a random act of senseless beauty and an artistic ambush.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson added: “As we go about our daily business we are often so absorbed in where need to be or too self-conscious to interact with the people around us. This is a delightful way to break down those self-imposed barriers. And in the words of the great Bard himself, ‘l do desire we be better strangers'”
