Pop-up Globe Extends $5 Groundlings Tickets

FIRM'S GIFT SEES $5 GROUNDLINGS EXTENDED FOR REST OF SEASON

HAMLET & MEASURE FOR MEASURE
FOR PRICE OF A COFFEE

Pop-up Globe is celebrating the New Year by announcing that $5 groundlings tickets are being extended, ensuring anyone who wants to see a Shakespeare masterpiece at this extraordinary playhouse can do so for the cost of a cup of coffee. Time travel has never been this affordable!

The subsidised tickets, currently available for The Taming of the Shrew and Richard III and made possible through the generosity of a leading New Zealand law firm, will now be available for this season’s next two plays Measure for Measure and Hamlet which open on 14 and 15 February.

The firm Anthony Harper -- recently named as a finalist in the 2019 NZEA Event Awards for its sponsorship of Pop-up Globe in 2018 – strives to give back to the community, and supporting the arts is one way of doing so.

“We believe that everyone should have access to the arts, regardless of their personal circumstances,” says Anthony Harper's managing partner, Malcolm Hurley

Mr Hurley says Anthony Harper began supporting the arts in Christchurch well over 20 years ago and has continued the proud tradition since. It has been sponsoring Pop-up Globe since 2015 and is currently the foundation sponsor.

Pop-up Globe’s founder and artistic director, Miles Gregory, says he is delighted Anthony Harper has stepped in to ensure that anyone can enjoy world-class performances of Shakespeare's masterworks in such an inspirational and invigorating atmosphere.

“Anthony Harper has supported Pop-up Globe since our inception. Both of our organisations understand the importance of arts attendance in building stronger communities and in changing lives - particularly the lives of young people.

“$5 buys a cup of coffee or a hamburger. Now you can partake of an experience that you'll never forget - two hours of brilliant performance that will transport you to Denmark, or Vienna, four hundred years ago. Time travel has never been cheaper, thanks to Anthony Harper and Pop-up Globe."

So, what are groundlings?
The name 'groundlings' came about after Hamlet referenced them as such when the play was first performed in 1601. At the time, the word had entered the English language to mean a small type of fish with a gaping mouth - from the vantage point of the actor playing Hamlet, set on a stage raised around 5 feet from the ground, the sea of upturned faces may have looked like wide-mouthed fish.

They were known to misbehave and are commonly believed to have thrown food such as fruit and nuts at characters they did not like.

While Pop-up Globe doesn’t encourage groundlings to throw fruit, they do encourage them to get involved in the play. Anything can happen in the groundlings pit … any it generally does.

From blood splatter to landing a cameo role, the groundlings are an exciting and unscripted place to be. The best five bucks you’ll spend this summer!
Are you ready for action?
Hamlet, described as “the most famous play ever written” is bound to blow your mind!

Devastated after the death of his father, the melancholy Prince of Denmark finds himself propelled from grief into action when a supernatural visitation suggests that his new step-father may have been responsible for his father’s murder. Sworn to revenge but unable to trust his mother, his girlfriend or his closest friends, can Hamlet outwit and expose the villainous King without it costing him his soul?

Hamlet combines all the swashbuckling action of a revenge tragedy with profound and poetic questions about the nature of life and death.

Measure for Measure, described as Moulin Rouge, Shakespeare-style guarantees a wild night out.

Join the all-singing, all-dancing cast as they take a wild romp through the seedy streets of 17th century Vienna, meeting larger-than-life characters who will charm you even as they pick your pocket.

From the dubious delights of Mistress Overdone’s house of ill-repute to the musical inmates of the city jail, this new production of Shakespeare’s masterpiece will take you on an unexpected and joyful journey.
Measure opens 14 February
Hamlet opens 15 February

Groundings tickets are limited.Swift action is recommended.

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