The Hamlet Apocalypse follows actors attempting to stage Hamlet while the world ends. Hamlet and actors alike contemplate death as they run through the lines. Shakespeare’s characters provoke personal exploration as purpose and meaning becoming increasingly urgent for all. It is a bleakly funny meditation on the importance of art in chaos.

 

Steven Mitchell Wright’s production sets up an absurd premise; juxtaposing the practicalities of staging a production of Hamlet with the impending end of the world. It is a very self-aware production that assumes the audience has previously knowledge of the original Hamlet. The personal breaking through the Shakespeare provides a clever and novel way to present an updated interpretation of the source material. The bitter sweet experience of investing in doomed characters is rewarding. I highly recommend going to see the show, however as with any production of Hamlet, it’s not for the faint hearted.

 

The actors’ strong performances exhibit total commitment to their roles. Physically taxing scenes show a cast that has worked together and achieve the surreal alternate reality of the play within the play. Each character demonstrates their own version of hopelessness, from the relief of Peta Ward’s mania of disbelief to Caroline Dunphy’s excellently restrained emotion. Thomas Hutchins’ thwarted ambitions are well executed as a counterpoint to Mitch Wood’s interesting and physical portrayal of the inconsistent Hamlet.

 

Ben Hughes’ lighting is thrilling. The lighting is at times poetic and disconcerting, is used to refocus the action and interacts with the actors in a way I haven’t previously seen. It is an excellent example of how lighting can be provocative and innovative, but work with the performers. Director Wright’s set design tightens the stage to a claustrophobic space that effectively heightens the action. Together with lighting and Dane Alexander’s foreboding sound, the design successfully creates the apocalyptic outside world of the players. The costumes by Oscar Clark are suitably bleak and support the dual realities. Gertrude’s avant garde Elizabethan gown is used to particularly great effect by Dunphy.

 

In the end we are left with panting actors having been through the Hamlet ringer, and it feels equally harrowing for the audience. Don’t miss that chance to attend the Q & A; you might have a few questions after experiencing the apocalypse.

 

By Rosie Goldfeder 

 

The Hamlet Apocalypse runs until the 19^th August.