Note : Please write/protest to the Globe Theatre
on the effect of the theatre receiving money and
timber from Malaysia. Also, please remind the Globe
that it is being used to promote the use of
timber from the rainforest of Sarawak, in which
the people are loosing their rainforest home land.
Source : The Borneo Post
Date : 1st October 1993
Dateline : London
By : Wan A Hulaimi
Malaysia Helps the Globe
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LONDON, Thurs. - Malaysia timber and a cash
donation of Stg 30,000 (about RM114,000) will
give the much-needed boost to the project to
rebuild the Globe theatre where Britain's most
famous play-wright, William Shakespeare Had a
number of his plays performed.
The plan to rebuild the Globe, where Shakespeare
was said to be both a share-holder and player,
has been a lifelong project for American film-maker Sam
Wanamaker who first expressed interest in 1949,
and produced a scale model for architect's
approval 20 years later.
Wanamaker said today he was delighted with the
Malaysian Government's cash-offer which would
be handed to him by Primary Industries Minister
Datuk Dr. Lim Keng Yaik at the Malaysian high
Commission, here, next Tuesday.
The donation comes from the Malaysian Timber
Industry Development Council which sees the
project as a boost for the use of timber in
buildings.
Wanamaker said Dr Lim was approached for assistance
by the British High Commissioner to Malaysia.
Malaysian artists performing Shakespeare's plays
would be invited to perform at the Globe when it
was completed in April 1995, he said.
The project had failed to win the wholehearted
support of the British theatre establishment,
he said, adding that initially it did not even
get the support of Southwark Council in South
London which preferred to see the land used for
the promotion of business and housing. However,
this objection had been overcome.
Malaysia is the largest country to contribute to
the project. Other countries which have
contributed include Japan, the United States,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.
The original Globe Theatre, which was opened in
1598, was destroyed when two cannons fired during
a performance of "Henry VIII" set the thatched
roof alight. It was rebuilt from public subscriptions
and a royal grant in 1614, and closed in 1642
by the Puritans. Two years later, it was
pulled down for tenements.
Among Shakespeare's plays performed at the Globe were
Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Othello,
Macbeth, and The Taming of the Shrew.
Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Lim said efforts
were under way to stage the first-ever
Shakespeare play in Bahasa Malaysia at the
renowned theatre.
The theatre would be working closely with Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka (Language and Literature Council)
for the purpose, he said at a press conference to
announced the 2nd Wushu Championships to be hosted
by the Wushu Federation of Malaysia.
Dr Lim, who is the Federation's president, said he
mooted the idea for the Bahasa Malaysia version of
Shakespeare during his discussions with the theatre
on the cash donation.
He said the donation was part of the government's
promotion of Malaysia.
The theatre had agreed to name one of its rooms
"Malaysia Room" in recognition of the country's
contribution, he said. -END
--- * Origin: Asia Pacific Solidarity - Sarawak (90:600/108)--