What are the ends of global Shakespeare as a field of study? In the past three decades, global Shakespeare has expanded Shakespeare studies’ Anglo-centric outlook. We now need new methods to theorize performances of Shakespeare across cultures.

This  presentation suggests heterotopia as a new method to analyze diverse and polyphonic performances. In Michel Foucault’s theory of heterotopia, the notion describes worlds within worlds. Joubin builds upon Foucault’s architectural metaphor to theorize cultural spaces that are transformative because of their contradictory or trans-historical ideologies. Heterotopia, as a parallel space that contains and evokes other spaces, exists in reality (such as a theatre stage) and holds up a mirror to other realities.

This presentation argues that global Shakespeare operates as a heterotopia. Performances connect audiences with fictional worlds in a different time and place. They also evoke other parts of audiences’ contemporary worlds. Heterotopia, or worlds within worlds, captures the vitality and viability of global performances of Shakespeare.

An example of global Shakespeare as heterotopia is Yukio Ninagawa’s high-concept production of Hamlet (1998 and 2015), which turns the art of theatre-making inside out through its metatheatrical conceit. The production opens with actor-characters warming up, running their lines and touching up on their makeup. They mill around on a set that represents the backstage of a theatre where the actor-characters both prepare for and stage Hamlet. The two-story set consists of dressing rooms with privacy curtains, complete with lighted mirrors, photographs, and bouquets. The lower level is a common dressing area for everyone, while the upper level is reserved for leading actor-characters’ individual dressing rooms. This backstage space is now upstage. This set doubles as rooms in Elsinore Castle once the story of Hamlet begins.

Heterotopia pushes back against the illusions of Shakespeare’s universal meanings by pluralizing the aesthetic and political positions across and within artistic, scholarly and pedagogical communities. Global performances of Shakespeare create worlds within worlds by combining the plays and audiences’ senses of place to build cultural spaces that are transformative. Heterotopia, created by the craft of world-making, anchors, enables and endorses some characters’ transformative experiences and self-discovery.

This seminar is part of the Hong Kong International Shakespeare Conference 2026. Following the seminar, there will be a book launch titled “Shakespearean Studies: New Books in the Field” by Prof. Alexa Alice Joubin and Dr. Miriam Lau. The launch will be moderated by Prof. Michael Dobson, Director of The Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham. Details are available on the conference website.

The seminar and book launch will be accessible via the same Zoom link provided below.

About the Speaker

Alexa Alice Joubin is Professor of English, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Theatre, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she directs the Digital Humanities Institute. The inaugural recipient of the bell hooks Legacy Award, she held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Warwick in the UK. In 2026, she received the Shakespeare Association of America’s Barbara Hodgdon Award as well as honorable mention for the Publics Award.

Departmental Seminar: The End(s) of Global Shakespeare

By Prof. Alexa Alice Joubin, George Washington University

Date: Tuesday 14 April 2026

Time: 9:30am – 10:15am

Moderator: Prof. Min-hua Wu, Associate Professor, Department of English, National Chengchi University

Venue: Via Zoom

Viewing Link (for both the seminar and book talk): https://mit.zoom.us/j/94864155318

Meeting ID: 948 6415 5318

The Shakespeare Drama Competition 2026 finale is here! Twenty shortlisted participants will bring to life some of the Bard’s most iconic characters and unleash the potential for contemporary reinterpretation of the classic monologues and dialogues on stage. Everyone is invited!

Date: 28 March 2026 (Saturday)

Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm

Venue: 1/F, N102, Alice Lam Lecture Theatre, Lo Hui Kit San, HSUHK

Language: English 

Admission: Free

Register: HSUHK Students and Staff / Public 

*Undergraduate students who participate in the event will be awarded 1 iGPS unit.

The Bootstrap Theater (TBT) is a group based in Hong Kong, staging contemporary, socially relevant theatrical work for an international, multicultural audience. Its name, “Bootstrap”, embodies their go-getting, determined, and passionate spirit.

TBT’s mission is to tell bold, thought-provoking, and relevant stories on stage that starkly and honestly reflect modern society through world-class theatre productions.

By cultivating an artistic and creative community in Hong Kong—from actors, dancers, and musicians to writers, directors, and filmmakers, as well as backstage, administration, and marketing personnel—TBT embraces the diversity and inclusivity that only theatre can bring.

About the Workshop

The workshop provides pointers and suggestions on re-imagining Shakespeare’s works for modern audiences—from conceptualisation to staging direction and actors’ performances. It will delve deeper into ways to make Shakespeare more relatable and accessible, such as setting localisation and drawing parallels with current events and societies. Examples of modernised or adapted Shakespearean stories will also be given and discussed.

Lead Workshop Facilitator: William Elvin Manzano

William Elvin Manzano is a theatre veteran from Manila, Philippines, having graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman’s theatre arts programme under the mentorship of Philippine National Artist Tony Mabesa and many other Philippine theatre luminaries.

William has done numerous productions around Metro Manila from 2005 to 2013, taking on various roles as actor, director, writer, and composer, before relocating to Hong Kong in 2014. His most well-known work as a writer-composer, the original Filipino musical Mula sa Buwan, garnered multiple awards, including Best Musical (Aliw Awards) and Original Score (Philstage Gawad Buhay) in 2023 – and is now regarded as a contemporary classic in Philippine theatre. In Hong Kong, he is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Bootstrap Theatre, for which he has directed acclaimed Filipino playwright Floy Quintos’ full-length play FAKE in June 2025. He is set to direct the premiere laboratory staging of his new musical titled JOB: Fateful Fever Dream in July 2026.

Re-imagining, Staging and Performing Shakespeare Today
Drama Workshop by Bootstrap Theatre

Date: 24 March 2026 (Tuesday)

Time: 3:00pm – 4:30pm

Venue: 2/F, CR219, Function Room, Creative Humanities Hub, HSUHK

Language: English

Capacity: 20 

Admission: Free

Register: HSUHK Students and Staff / Public 

*Undergraduate students who participate in the event will be awarded 1 iGPS unit.