Globe theatre taking Hamlet to North Korea

LONDON - Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London will take a production of Hamlet to North Korea next year as part of a vast world tour, it said on Monday.

The Globe's actors will perform the play in the secretive state in September 2015 as part of its 'Globe to Globe' tour marking the 450th anniversary of the English playwright's birth.

The exact tour dates are yet to be confirmed, a spokeswoman for the theatre said.

The plot of Hamlet revolves around family feuds and Hamlet's murder of his uncle.

In North Korea, leader Kim Jong-Un's regime ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-Thaek in December last year.

Jang, once the country's unofficial number two and Kim's political mentor, was put to death on December 12 on an array of charges including corruption and plotting to overthrow the state.

The theatre has pledged to send a "small company of actors" to perform Hamlet in every country in the world, beginning the tour on April 23 this year, Shakespeare's birthday.

"We're taking the play to North Korea as part of a two-year tour to every country in the world," a spokeswoman said.