„Multiple festival-prized performance”
W. Shakespeare: Hamlet
Cast: Peter Čižmár, Peter Cibula
Directed by: Klaudyna Rozhin
A performance of the Kontra Theater /Slovakia/
Our Hamlet is an ordinary adult, stripped of all nobility, struggling to make sense of life in a world that denies him trust, friends and love. His descent into assumed madness is rather a descent into depression, which manifests itself in fits of unwarranted aggression, bouts of manic energy and above all, intense unhappiness. He is disillusioned, alienated, lonely, insecure, self-tormenting, grief-stricken, inflamed by the compromises and duplicities of the world.
This adaptation strips the play to the core. It focuses on the character of Hamlet: his examination of the nature of self and his search for a meaning.
The part of Hamlet is played by two actors. The audience gets to see two different faces of grief, frustration and despair. The same actors play all the other parts. After all, if there is something of Hamlet in all of us, there must something of him in Ophelia, Gertrude and even in Claudius.
It is a production of rigorous simplicity: an antithesis of gimmicky, conceptual theatre. Played on a bare stage, the actors create the characters and the world of Elsinore using their bodies, voices and a few simple props. Our main goal is to bring Shakespeare’s language to life – its poetry, violence and humour, so that its full meaning lands on the ear and excites the listener. We strive for clarity, vitality and emotional truth.