Nigerian Ladi Emeruwa Plays Leading Role In 'Hamlet' For Shakespeare's 450th Anniversary

As Britain celebrates the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth this week, his plays are to be performed both above the ground and on the ground. And the leading role in play "Hamlet" will be performed by Nigerian Ladi Emeruwa.

To mark the English language's greatest playwright’s birthday, which is traditionally observed on April 23, the Royal Shakespeare Company was to launch a fireworks display from the roof of their theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s home town.

While another troupe (Reduced Shakespeare Company comic troupe) was to attempt to set a world record on Wednesday by performing a one-hour version of his complete works at 11,300 metres.

Shakespeare’s Globe, the re-creation of his wooden theatre on the banks of the River Thames in London, is launching a two-year tour of “Hamlet” that will take in around 200 countries.

The tour begins Wednesday, the troupe will play in national theatres, on the beach in Nauru and the Bahamas; in Greek and Roman amphitheatres; on a roundabout in Romania, and will inaugurate Poland’s Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre. The tour will finish with a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark.


The 12-strong cast includes Ladi Emeruwa from Nigeria as Hamlet, Jennifer Leong from Hong Kong, and New Zealand’s highly respected Maori actor Rawiri Paratene.

According to the actor who will also play the title role, play "Hamlet" which contains one of the most famous passages in the English language - "To be or not to be" - is a story full of discovery and humanity.