To leave or not to leave: Hamlet to be staged for migrants in Calais Jungle camp
MIGRANTS at the notorious Jungle camp will be treated to an evening of Shakespeare with a special performance.
Hamlet, a role once played by Benedict Cumberbatch, will be performed at the Jungle camp in Calais
Shakespeare's Globe will perform Hamlet in the Jungle camp in Calais.
Jungle-based theatre company Good Chance will stage the production in the camp.
It's a privilege that our Hamlet company have been able to perform in the Calais Jungle
Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe's artistic director, said: "This performance will be yet another wonderful example of this ground-breaking tour's ability to reach displaced people across the world.
“It's a privilege that our Hamlet company have been able to perform in the Calais Jungle and our thanks go to Good Chance for enabling this."
Some 7,000 migrants have set up temporary shelters in the camp near the northern French port town.
In a joint statement Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, the artistic directors of Good Chance, said: "As a production which has travelled to audiences all over the world, it is fitting that it visits the camp here in Calais, where the fault lines of over 20 different nations meet."
The touring production of the Bard's timeless tragedy will play to an audience of migrants on February 3.
The Jungle show will be followed on February 8 by a show for Libyan migrants on Malta.
French riot police were called in during the Jungle eviction
The show is part of the Globe to Globe world tour, which has also seen performances at refugee camps in Jordan, Djibouti and the Cameroon.
The evening of Shakespeare will be in stark contrast to recent scenes of rioting in the Jungle which saw migrants set tents on fire as French riot police were called to manage the carnage.
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
The Jungle camp is home to some 7,000 migrants
French authorities have ordered more than 1,000 migrants to leave the wasteland which is a sprawling city of tents, mud and rubbish citing fears the camp had grown too close to the motorway.
As migrants continue to make their way across Europe, the shanty town has become a thriving community with dozens of shops, restaurants, churches and even a nightclub.
A number of humanitarian charities have sent aid workers to the camp and animal rights charity PETA has donated real fur coats and leather shoes to migrants at the camp as temperatures plummet.