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HAMLET
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MORE ABOUT THE SHOW |
THE PLAY:
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. The title character, Hamlet, is the Prince of Denmark, whose father has recently died. His Uncle Claudius has taken over the throne and married Hamlet’s mother. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to reveal that he was murdered by his brother, and asks his son to avenge his death by killing Claudius, Hamlet comes face-to-face with his own doubts and fears. Can he trust the ghost, is he up to the task of putting aside his grief and killing his Uncle? READ A DETAILED SYNOPSIS RUNNING TIME: 2 Hours, 10 minutes with one intermission. OUR PRODUCTION: THE PAC's Hamlet is definitely not a strictly traditionalist Shakespeare. Don't worry: we have stayed faithful to the text (with some trimming, since the uncut show runs over three hours), and there are few nods to the Elizabethan era in some of the costuming. In developing a concept for this production, the idea of the divide between aspiration and reality, between thought and action kept coming up as a recurring theme. This can be found not just in the title character, but in many of the characters and actions of the play. The design team played around with the idea of straitjackets as a metaphor for this struggle, and of the pathways and barriers between ideas and actions. The visual look of the show features porous barriers: ropes, fences, straps that surround but do not actually hold back the characters. There is also a visual contrast between dark and light in the set and the all white costumes. As always, the production features the efforts of more than just the cast of 20 actors. Over 100 students are part of the production, working on building and painting scenery, making costumes, creating lighting and sound effects and working as production assistants. Under the supervision of our adult design team, these students are responsible for creating everything that appears on stage. |
