The Hamlet Apocalypse
Judith Wright Centre
The Hamlet Apocalypse is a bold dystopian play from ‘Brisbane’s boldest theatre company’, The Danger Ensemble, at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts from 9-19 August.
The play has previously performed to sterling reviews at Melbourne’s La Mama, Adelaide Fringe and our own La Boite Theatre in 2011, with this new production featuring some very talented Queensland performers, many of them long-time collaborators of The Danger Ensemble. Artistic Director is Steven Mitchell Wright, who directed the play, and the cast is Chris Beckey, Caroline Dunphy, Nicole Harvey, Thomas Hutchins, Polly Sará, Peta Ward and Mitch Wood.
The Hamlet Apocalypse has the premise of seven actors staging Hamlet on the eve of the apocalypse. The line between fiction and reality starts to blur, with the actors, their characters and their worlds colliding so that all are distilled into the simplest of human states. Mitchell Wright says that it’s the blurring of the real and the imagined that’s allowed audiences to engage so strongly with the plight of the cast members. This is due in part to the text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which asks many questions about the nature of living – ‘to be or not to be…’
The Danger Ensemble has previously presented unforgettable, visceral works such as Sons of Sin, Loco Maricon Amor and CALIGULA, and have performed in over 50 cities worldwide. They have shared the stage with luminaries Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Margaret Cho and Reggie Watts. The Hamlet Apocalypse is guaranteed to be powerful theatre.
By Vicki Englund
Judoth Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts is a valued partner of Must Do Brisbane.com
JWCOCA
420 Brunswick St
Fortitude Valley
Aug 9-19 7.30
$34-$43.50
Groups 6+ $30
