Shakespeare's Globe to tour U.S.

Shakespeare's Globe theatre company,the historic troupe thatstagesplays in an Elizabethan setting in London, is returning for a U.S. tour after a four-year hiatus.

The company will perform the comedy Love's Labour's Lost, a witty battle of the sexes,on eight university campuses in the U.S.starting Oct. 20, the company said Monday.

Its last tour, in 2005, was with the play Measure for Measure.

Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of the Globe since 2005, says he wanted to lay a "good foundation" at the company before touring its productions.

A tour of the U.S. will cost about $1 million US, even with actors accepting accommodation on university campuses.

The touring schedule for Love's Labour's Lost is:

• Oct. 20-25 Power Center for the Performing Arts , Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Oct. 27-31 Annenberg Center, Philadelphia
• Nov. 4-8 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, Calif.
• Nov. 11 Mondavi Center, Davis, Calif.
• Nov. 13-15 UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.
• Nov. 19-29 Nov Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, Santa Monica Calif.
• Dec. 4-6 Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, Holyoke Mass.
• Dec. 9-23 Pace University, Michael Schimmel Performing Arts Center, New York

The Globe is a recreation of the open-air theatre where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed and aims to give patrons an Elizabethan experience. That might include audience members shouting out to actors as they perform.

Dromgoole said he will have to adjust to themore traditional university theatres to get some of the same feel.

For example, the lights might remain on in the theatre and characters might talk directly to audience members, he told the New York Times.