Ashley Walters Sets Sights on Globe Domination???

In a recent interview to promote his current project, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water at the Young Vic, Walters told What’s on Stage magazine editor Roger Foss: “I’m adamant about doing Shakespeare. I’ve been trying desperately to get into Shakespeare’s Globe. I’ll just have to keep on at them until they’ll have me.”

Walters, who was known as Asher D in his So Solid days, made his critically acclaimed stage debut in 2004 in Roy Williams’ Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads at the National. He also starred in the film Bullet Boy, for which he won the Best Newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards, and has appeared on television as regular Billy Bond in Hustle. During his rap success with So Solid Crew, he was briefly jailed for handgun possession.

If Walters does get his wish, perhaps he’ll get the chance to combine his acting and music talents on the Globe’s recently launched record label Globe Editions – although they won’t be releasing anything in the ilk of So Solid Crew anytime soon. The label, which has been set up to record and promote traditional folk music and spoken word albums, released its first album last month, a selection of Elizabethan ‘street songs’ recorded using instruments such as the sackbut (forefather of the trombone) and the hurdy-gurdy (an ancient ancestor of the violin).

Currently, the South Bank venue is also celebrating the release of Shakespeare’s Globe: A Theatrical Experiment, a compilation of writings that assess the impact the Globe has had since its relaunch in 1997, featuring an extensive interview with former artistic director Mark Rylance.