Pop-up Globe announces the first step of its audacious comeback

Pop-up Globe today announces it’s about to pop back up in Auckland!
 
Lead by co-founder Tobias Grant and under the artistic direction of renowned Shakespeare expert David Lawrence, the Pop-up Globe Shakespeare Company will rise from the ashes of Covid, this time at Q Theatre -- the same Auckland location it was unveiled in 2016 before going on to thrill 750,000 people in New Zealand and Australia. 
 
In just four weeks, beginning on 17 October, Pop-up Globe will swing back into action with fan-favourite comedy, Twelfth Night. A smash hit from the company’s first season, it follows the hilarious story of a shipwrecked twin brother and sister who wash up separately.
 
For five nights only, Twelfth Night at Q offers all the fun of the previous production, except there’ll be a roof! Expect rowdiness, expect to become part of the storyline, expect live music and expect the best actors to ever take the stage! Tickets are on sale at 9 a.m. for this strictly limited season via Q Theatre. Prices start at just $20*.
 
“A theatre critic once said that in heaven, the perfect production of Twelfth Night is playing every night,” says David. “So we’re making ours. There’ll be love songs, shipwrecks, cross-dressing, pirates, sword fights, belly-dancing, yellow stockings, a fiddle player, and maybe even some parkour”.
 
“Q is where we announced the location of the very first Pop-up Globe,” says Tobias. “The team there suggested the location and supported us during the season, and Q’s beautiful Rangatira theatre is the closest space we can find to an indoor version of the Pop-up Globe playhouse.  Even better, unlike the open-roofed Pop-up Globe, Rangatira is luxurious – with of a roof, comfortable seats, and air conditioning!“.
 
This production is the first of many planned by Pop-up Globe on its road to recovery and like everything the team does, is inspired by history. In an uncanny historical coincidence, plague in London often stopped Shakespeare’s company from performing at London’s Globe Theatre 400 years ago. Their response: take the shows on the road. They popped up in existing venues - theatres, town squares, palaces, even pubs. The company took all the best of the Globe - the cast, costumes, props and music, and performance style - and tailored their performances for the audiences and the spaces where they performed. History suggests their fame and appeal only grew in the time it took before they could return to their own Globe playhouse and resume performing there.
 
“Pop-up Globe is extraordinary,” says Tobias, the co-founder of the homegrown theatrical phenomenon.
 
Tobias’ collaboration with Dr Miles Gregory, Pop-up Globe’s visionary Founder and its Founding Artistic Director, resulted in Pop-up Globe being created from scratch in Auckland in 2015, opening in Auckland in February 2016 and presenting the largest festival of Shakespeare ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere, and becoming one of the most explosively popular live entertainment experiences in history.
 
By February 2020, Pop-up Globe had popped up in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, earned popular and critical acclaim everywhere it went. It delighted 750,000 audience members.
 
Covid crushed it. When lockdowns and restrictions made it impossible to trade, there was no option but to put the group of companies into liquidation.
 
“Putting the companies into liquidation was devastating,” says Tobias. But events took an unexpected turn when liquidator Gareth Hoole of Ecovis KGA put Tobias under instruction to create future trading for Pop-up Globe. “This is an extremely challenging assignment and I’m delighted to take it on. Pop-up Globe was just at the starting line when Covid hit. We had great work, an amazing team and support network in NZ and beyond, and - most importantly – wonderful audiences. It’s a long road back and I’m determined to make it happen.”
 
Joining Tobias is artistic director David Lawrence. Lawrence, one of the country’s most renowned and experienced directors of Shakespeare, was Pop-up Globe’s associate artistic director between 2015 and 2020. “David is the best person in the world to lead Pop-up Globe’s artistic team in this new adventure,” says Tobias. “He is the perfect custodian of Miles’ legacy and, like me, he is extraordinarily driven to realise Pop-up Globe’s potential to create joy for as many people as people.”
 
“I’ll be delighted to see Pop-up Globe return,” says Dr Gregory. “Tobias and David are the right people to lead it. I’m offering them every support and encouragement to make it happen.
 
“The original incarnation of Pop-up Globe was life-changing for all who were part of it,” says David. “These wonderful plays were never meant to be read or studied or revered as high art; they were meant to be experienced live and shared with as many other human beings as possible. I’m so excited we’re bringing the magic of Pop-up Globe back”.
 
David’s artistic team is a who’s who of every Pop-up Globe production. It includes movement director Brigid Costello, music director Paul McLaney, technical director Jono Wilce, and fight director Alexander Holloway.
 
“The first step is simple,” says Tobias. “Get our team back together, make a Pop-up Globe show, and delight some Pop-up Globe fans in a short season at our home in Auckland. When it is successful, we get to take the next step.”
 
Also joining the celebratory return is law firm Anthony Harper, the presenting partner for the season. “Anthony Harper has been part of the Pop-up Globe story since the start. The team there is sensational. They’ve relentlessly supported Pop-up Globe - and me personally - through the great times, and the not-so-great times of the last few years. We’re grateful for their support and delighted Anthony Harper is presenting this season.”
 
Also sponsoring the season are two platinum sponsors - leading digital billboard company Lumo Digital, and ticketing experts Eventfinda. “I’ve been working with the teams at Lumo and Eventfinda since 2015,” says Tobias. “These are deep collaborations with teams integral to the successes of Pop-up Globe. I’m grateful for their support and delighted they’re joining us. This is a dream team.”
 
“We can’t wait to welcome Pop-up Globe’s fans at Q Theatre, and on the next stage of the Pop-up Globe adventure,” says Tobias. “The only problem – there aren’t many seats available. Rangatira is a much smaller venue the Pop-up Globe, so we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.
 
”Pop-up Globe’s mission has always been to rediscover the experience of Shakespeare’s own audiences, 400 which have been lost to history, and share them with as many people as possible. This is the perfect first step on the road back to achieving it. The game’s afoot… “
 
Twelfth Night
Tickets are available now at Q Theatre: qtheatre.co.nz
Tickets from $20 plus fees
Five nights only – October 17-22
Earlybird pricing ends on 29 September