In what is considered to be a first, actors from London’s Shakespeare Globe Theatre will be traveling to Liberia to perform Hamlet. The play will present a change of in the type of entertainment that is typically available in the Monrovia area.

Although the city is inundated with clubs and bars, residents of Monrovia rarely have other options for entertainment. It is a problem that event planner Marjean Sherman knows too well. Sherman, whose Jeanie International Productions is promoting the event in Liberia, says even though she is not fond of Shakespearean plays, it is important to have this show in Liberia.

“Our entertainment sector is growing, and I think that’s another element we can add on for fun – for living,” Sherman said. “It’s important for our exposure to the outside world and also for us to be exposed to this kind of stuff.”

Sherman said the play has generated excitement mostly among expatriates and Liberians who have lived abroad. “They said, this is a big deal, this is a good idea. We never heard of this happening in Liberia,” she said.

The play, which will take place on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at RLJ Kendeja Resorts and Villas, will feature international actors from the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, but was organized by a local theater company known as the B4Youth Theatre.

Jasmine Blanks Jones, who founded the B4Youth Theatre in 2010, said students from Liberia would perform before the Hamlet production as an opening act. Her organization has worked with over 400 students since the program’s inception. In the yearly program, run during the rainy season school vacation, the B4Youth Theatre trains students in theatre arts.

“Some of those students read and studied Hamlet to create a unique version of it based on their interpretation”, Jones said. “So right before you see the Shakespeare Globe Theatre from London perform, you’ll get to see Liberian youth interpret it for themselves,” she added.

Marjean Sherman (left) and Jasmine Blanks Jones. Photo: Jefferson Krua

In addition to the students who will be performing, tickets will be provided to 100 students who have shown an interest in theatre arts. For all others, the entrance fee is $40, although the organizers have had it discounted throughout the weeks leading to the performance.

“Originally, the vision was to be able to do this free of cost,” Jones explained. “But we weren’t able to solicit all the sponsorship we needed and as you can imagine, to bring in a performing troupe from overseas and to get the right kinds of lighting, the right kind of sound, and to get the right stage, to house them in a hotel – it costs a lot.”

Despite the excitement over the arrival of Shakespeare to Liberia, the country does have its local theatre scene. Although information about performances can be difficult to come by, Jones is aware of the Liberian-styled theatre productions, and she assures that she is not competing with them.

“There are pretty fundamental differences,” she said. “We would be more in line with the western approach because we’re using staging that’s taught in the western world.”

Jones added, “When you talk about right stage, and left stage and center stage and down stage – we use that kind of language for how we deal with theatre and how we deal with creating what’s known as the fourth wall. That acting is what is going on and the audience is not necessarily part of the show, whereas with more traditional forms of African theatre, it’s a very participatory process and though that is very valued to us, we appreciate that we are not at all infringing on cultural arts.”

Tickets to the production of Hamlet can be bought at the Afropolitan boutique store and Evelyn’s Restaurant. For more information, contact +231 88 091-5135 or visit the B4Theatre’s website.