A theater group’s performance of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at a refugee camp in France was cut short because “there was a lot of knives around.”
The group called “Shakespeare Globe” is on tour performing for impoverished and “displaced” people around the world. Last week’s show in a refugee camp known as the “Jungle” ended early after people tried to cut through to the backstage with knives.
A Globe spokeswoman denied that the knives were the primary reason for the abrupt ending to the show, saying it was “one of several factors that led us to lightly shorten what was always going to be a shortened version of the production.”
While the Globe’s Executive Director Tom Bird told The Times that the knives were the primary factor for the cancellation because of the weapons’ magnitude in the crowd of about 250.
“There were a lot of knives around,” Bird said. “That’s what really put me on edge. They were visible and out.”
The “Jungle” is located in Calais by the tunnel connecting France to Dover in The United Kingdom. Refugees settle in the “Jungle” with hopes of making it across the English Channel to the UK, and authorities have struggled with violence and human trafficking in the area. (RELATED: Pro-Immigration Filmmakers Go To Refugee Camp, Get Robbed [VIDEO])
Dominic Dromgoole, Globe’s artistic director, considered the performance a victory, since it is an example of “the ground-breaking tour’s ability to reach displaced people across the world.”
No people were injured during the performance.
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