A little spontaneity never hurt

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend us your ears. Julius Caesar isn’t coming to town, but the world-renowned company that’s staged his namesake play many times over, is. From Sep 18-22, Shakespeare’s Globe from London will return to Singapore, to perform three of the playwrights’s most loved comedies.

The British company of eight actors, which has performed in Spain, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Norway on its world tour since May, will be making its Singapore stop at the School of the Arts, to put up The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, and The Taming of the Shrew. It might be lacking the one thing people actually pay for in London—the Globe Theatre—but the company is making up for it: with Audience Choice performances. A tradition dating back to the 16th Century that allows the audience to choose the performance they watch, the Audience Choice shows this September will be the first time the initiative is performed in Asia.

Can’t decide if you want to see the money-minded squabbles of The Merchant of Venice (Sep 18 and 21), the comical cross-dressing love triangle in Twelfth Night (Sep 19 and 20), or the romancing of sisters in The Taming of the Shrew (Sep 21)? Come on the last day (Sep 22) for the Audience Choice performance, and you’ll get to vote for any of the three plays; once the vote has been cast, the actors will perform the winning play on the spot. Whatever ends up being staged is bound to be a good show, so nobody loses—unless you’ve already caught the winning show one of the nights before, that is.


Shakespeare’s Globe runs from Sep 18-22 at the School of the Arts (SOTA). Tickets start from $88 here.

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