To be or not to be: A night of mobile ringtones

Shakespeare’s Globe is currently on a very ambitious tour to commemorate 400 years since William Shakespeare's death. They are taking Hamlet to “every country in the world” — or 205 to be more accurate — over the course of two years.

On Monday January 12, Egypt was the 67th country to be ticked off the list, and the touring play came to Bibliotheca Alexandrina's main auditorium. The space was almost at full capacity and the seating was well organized by ushers and signs showing people to their sections and seats.

The curtains were already drawn, showing the simple set Shakespeare’s Globe were using for Hamlet Globe to Globe. It featured around nine boxes, a curtain, and simple wooden structure serving as a backdrop to the setting. The lights in the auditorium were only dimmed enough to give the feel of the open air theater, which is how Shakespeare’s work was originally shown.

Directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst, the company features 12 actors who alternate between different roles on different performance nights. Hamlet is played by both Ladi Emeruwa and Naeem Hayat, who was the performer in Egypt.

The eight-member cast appeared on the stage as members of the audience were still socializing and taking their seats, singing an introduction to the play to the tune of an old English folk song. “Please turn off your mobile phones and do not take photos,” they sang.

The three hour play began.

[Standard iPhone ringtone. Woman fiddles through her purse. Takes a look at who is calling. Silences the phone.]

In Shakespearean English, we are introduced to Hamlet, prince of Denmark, along with his Uncle Claudius, who is king of Denmark following his father's death and has married Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude. While the production sticks to the original script, the touring troupe get creative with their costumes, which are both timeless and —

[Classical music ringtone. “More fitting to the setting at least,” this writer thinks to herself. Man silences his phone after a few seconds.]

Paying tribute to the open air theater's simple lighting and set design, the Hamlet cast use the boxes they transport their set in as an active part of the set. They create podiums, graves, closets and bridges swiftly in between scenes, and use music and feet stomping to make the whole feat —

[FLASH: A camera phone three-time flash goes off.]

The audience return from their 20-minute break to find the sound slightly higher, so they are able to hear the play better and mobile ringtones less. The second half starts with the iconic scene in which Hamlet accidentally kills his beloved Ophelia's father Polonuis. Here is the real start of the tragedy, with the series of duels and many complications to Hamlet's revenge —

[New Amr Diab song ringtone. Man answers the phone somewhat quietly. “I'm at the theater.” Pause. “Hamlet.”]