Some actors are so good that you could listen to them read the telephone directory; so goes the saying. In no way less epic, although not nearly as boring, and with a similarly endless list of characters, Shakespeare’s Globe will launch it’s 2011 season with an unstaged reading of the Bible over Easter Weekend.

The cover to cover reading celebrates the 400th anniversary of the completion of the King James Bible in 1611 and begins “The Word is God” season, which celebrates the power of dramatic language.

The 2010 season, Kings & Vagabonds, was hugely successful for the Globe, playing to record breaking attendance and winning particular plaudits for their productions of Henry IV parts I & II. The 2010 season was forced to extend by a week to accommodate the demand for tickets, following critical and popular delight in Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole’s energetic staging.

Shakespeare’s Globe will launch it’s 2011 season with an unstaged reading of the Bible over Easter Weekend

The Word Is God will see small scale touring productions of As You Like It and Hamlet, the latter opening on Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23rd), continue the Globe’s commitment to bringing Shakespeare to the people. In repertory at the Globe, All’s Well That Ends Well (April 27th) and Much Ado About Nothing (May 21st) will be joined by the first Globe production of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus (June 18th), and Brenton’s Anne Boleyn (July 8th), returning to the Globe following the 2010 premiere. Rounding off the season will be The Globe Mysteries (August 5th). The Mystery plays are among the oldest extant forms of British drama; they were elaborate retellings of biblical stories, with music, and dance and performance. It is fitting that the Globe pays tribute to them in this re-imagining of them, as the Mystery plays were the direct forerunners of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Chris Hannan’s world premiere of The God of Soho (August 27th), a modern day satire, will conclude the season.

In the meantime, for those who cannot wait for the new season to commence, there is still time to catch the Globe’s touring production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Christopher Luscombe’s joyful 2008 production has completed the International leg of the tour, the Globe’s first International tour, and is now on home soil, touring to Milton Keynes (16-20 November), Norwich Theatre Royal (23–27 November), Richmond Theatre (30 November-4 December) and Bath Theatre Royal (6-11 December).

- JBR