SINGAPORE – London-based Singapore actor Faizal Abdullah takes on the biggest role of his career at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe theatre as enslaved beast-man Caliban.

When the run of William Shakespeare’s tale of magical shipwreck, revenge and colonisation The Tempest begins on Jan 17, he joins a small handful of other Singapore theatre actors including Anjana Vasan and Wendy Kweh who have channelled the words of the Bard at the storied venue.

Directed by British theatremaker Tim Crouch, the show is on till April 12. Faizal, 41, tells The Straits Times this is a significant milestone: “In terms of scale and ambition, the size of the production, the length of the run, this is the biggest role I’ve taken so far.”

The Tempest plays in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse which is the indoor performance space of the Globe complex. Lit by over 100 beeswax candles, it is modelled after the chiaroscuro oak theatres of Shakespeare’s London and opened in 2014.

The current Globe complex is a modern reconstruction, 230m from the site of the burnt-down 1599 original. For theatremakers, it is hallowed ground.

Faizal, who has pursued theatre with his wife Khai Ramli in London since 2018, says he had about a week to prepare for auditions, which felt “chill, grounded and generous”.

In 2023, he had

premiered an identity play

on being Malay in Singapore at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, titled Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi?, or Who Took My Malay Away?, which he successfully crowdfunded after an ST article.

This same wrangling with identity informs his interpretation of Caliban. “Caliban is the native of the island, its original inhabitant, and his world is changed when Prospero and Miranda arrive. That experience of having your identity, your place, and your sense of belonging reshaped ...