Don't you ever get tired of Hamlet?
As Oscar Wilde said, "There are as many Hamlets as there are melancholies."
And the play takes on a different colouring depending on time and place.

Read more

In IIV century BC Kemmery tribes and Skiffs lived there. Tavrica was the first name of this Black Sea peninsula. People, who lived there in the I century BC called themselves Tavrs. At the end of VIII century AD Tatars came there and they called the peninsula Crimea. In there language it meant a bulwark with a dike. At the end of XV Crimea became a vassal of Turkey. As an outcome of Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774), on the 8th of April, year 1783, nearly 230 years ago Crimea became Russian land. As a result of a arbitrariness decision of Nikita Khrushchev (head of USSR 1953-1954) on the 19th of February, year 1954, nearly 60 years ago Crimea became Ukrainian.

Read more

It’s a well-worn cliché that sport is a theatrical spectacle. It has the lot - the plots, sub-plots and the drama in between often makes it compelling viewing. Stadiums around the world act like giant box offices, providing an irresistible pull to thousands of fans. Indeed, Manchester United’s ground is nicknamed ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ for its capacity to produce constant high-octane drama.

Read more

Walking across a country is a big undertaking, particularly if you've spent your 'training' period hanging out in the south of France with friends, eating cheese and drinking wine. It was the situation I found myself in when I set out for my month-long walk across the north of Spain. The walk – a famous pilgrimage called the Camino de Santiago ('camino' means 'walk' in Spanish) – follows various different routes, which all eventually lead to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a city in the Galician province of northwest of Spain. I chose to walk from Saint-Jean Pied-de-Port in the very south of France, a traditional starting place for the Camino, which gives walkers 800 km to cross before they arrive at Santiago de Compostela.

Read more

The festival season is upon us! The ranges of bejewelled, sequinned, feathered, floral head-body-foot wear that lines women's high street shops can make you feel as though you've entered your childhood dressing up box. But don't be deceived – festival-goers mean action, and the shops are only too happy to oblige. Boohoo and Asos both have their own 'festival fashion' sections, where they offer a selection of paisley-floral-sixties coloured jumpsuits, dungarees and headscarves.

Read more

For me, Rio de Janeiro's Carnival summons up a host of imaginary hot pink feathered samba parades, peacocking their way through hoards of bedazzled onlookers. I have not, as yet, been lucky enough to make these imaginings real – indeed, I haven't even been to South America. However, I did recently join an amateur samba band, which has increased and hammed up my fluorescent dreams no end. Although the main aim of my practices were initially to expend excess tension on the innocent drum, I have become more curious about the possibility of actually joining a real samba school and sashaying my way down the crowded Carnival streets...

Read more