Hamletmachine Heiner Müller

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Hamletmachine Heiner Müller Hamletmachine Heiner Müller Introduction interested in answers and solutions. I don’t have any to offer. I’m interested in problems and Heiner Müller was born in eastern Germany in conflicts. 1929. In 1945 he was drafted into the German (1982: 50) army and after the end of the Second World War returned home to the part of Germany occupied Hamletmachine is the most celebrated of Müller’s by the USSR. He took up writing in the 1950s and adaptations. It developed over many years from a began a checkered relationship with communist much longer work into the short, dense, allusive, officials in the German Democratic Republic: he and difficult text printed here. (A good attempt at worked for the League of German Writers in detailed and extensive explication can be found in 1954–1955; he wrote for Berlin’s Volksbühne Teroaka: 87–121.) The East German authorities did Theatre in 1957; he was expelled for political not allow the play to be produced, so it was first reasons from the writers’ league in 1961, so that staged in Brussels in 1978 and West Germany in his plays could not be performed until 1967; he 1979. Since then it has been produced many times was invited to join the prestigious Berliner in many different and striking ways. Robert Ensemble (founded by Brecht) in 1969; in the Wilson, for instance, brought a very studied and 1970s and 1980s he was given unprecedented coolly stylized approach to the play in New York freedom to travel to and return from Western in 1986 (see Rogoff), while Montreal’s Carbone 14 Europe and North America, although many of his infused the text with Gallic passion – a number of plays remained banned in East Germany. By this Ophelia’s speeches were delivered as torch songs time he had become a world-renowned playwright, (see Leonard). The text, such as it is, is open to ‘a sort of socialist William Shakespeare’ (Hofacker: – even demands – such interpretative leaps. 335). After the fall of the East Bloc, Müller was Müller himself included Hamletmachine in a seven- forced to rethink his position in the world and the and-a-half-hour production of Hamlet in Berlin in political role of his theatre (see Croyden, Höfele). 1990. In the face of the triumph of the West, the He died on 30 December 1995. play ends as ‘Fortinbras, wearing a business suit Müller adapted a number of Western classics and a gold mask, a star warrior of capitalism, takes over his career: Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (1967) and over’ (Höfele: 85). Philoctetus (1968); Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1972); Müller’s two most important precursors are Karl Brecht’s The Measures Taken (as Mauser 1975); Marx and Bertolt Brecht – note the central Laclos’s Dangerous Liaisons (as Quartet 1982). truncated quotation from Marx’s ‘Contributions to Often his point in these adaptations is to show the the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’ in long history and legacy of barbarism and the Hamletmachine: that the main point (of limitations of this history faced by people in the revolutionary struggle) is ‘to overthrow all those present: revolution has never been, is not going to conditions in which man is an abased, enslaved, be, easy. Müller describes his project in these abandoned, contemptible being.’ However, Müller terms: is anything but doctrinaire and uncritical in his approaches to these influences. For instance, an What I try to do in my writings is to strengthen the essay he wrote on Brecht is called ‘To Use Brecht sense of conflicts, to strengthen confrontations and without Criticizing Him Is to Betray Him.’ Here contradictions. There is no other way. I’m not Müller rejects Brecht’s ‘posthumous petrification 208 HAMLETMACHINE Plate 3 Photo: © Yves Dubé 1987. Production of Hamletmachine by Carbone 14, Montreal into the father figure by socialist cultural policy’ harsh call to action: his failure is his intellectual (33). As the world changes, the ideas of the past paralysis in the face of the need to act. Hamlet is must be submitted to ‘permanent revolution’ (31). similarly paralyzed by his own position of The lack of unquestioned veneration extends, of privilege: he sees himself both inside the palace course, to Shakespeare, and ultimately to the and down with the revolutionaries in the street – a works of Müller himself – as he writes in position with which Müller, as renowned author, ‘Reflections on Post-Modernism,’ ‘Work toward the identifies. Finally, Hamlet is privileged and disappearance of the author is resistance against paralyzed by his gender: he wants to be a woman, the disappearance of humankind’ (57). One way of but clings to his male advantages. In the end, freeing texts from the authorial dictates of the past Hamlet gives up, and abandons the future and is by crossing them with other voices. This revolution to others. explains the multitude and variety of allusions in One of the most striking aspects of Hamletmachine, which is not Shakespeare’s text, Hamletmachine is the prominence given to Ophelia nor Müller’s alone. – Rogoff writes that the play might better be called The invocations of Josef Stalin in Hamletmachine Opheliamachine (57). By having Marx, Lenin, and point to Müller’s struggle within and against East Mao appear as three naked women, Müller asserts Bloc socialism: he sides with the revolutionary, that it is not ‘man’ who has suffered the most utopian impulse but not with its ossification into egregious enslavement and abasement. The play dictatorship. The play is no more accepting, does not shy away from the litany of horrific however, of Western capitalism, encapsulated in victimization to which Ophelia and other women the line ‘Hail Coca Cola.’ After 1989, Müller spoke have been subjected. Indeed, at the end (in a of a ‘third way’ which is ‘not communism, not hyperbolic echo of Shakespeare’s mad and capitalism, but something else – nobody knows drowned heroine) Ophelia sits bound to a what’ (Croyden: 106). wheelchair at the bottom of the sea. However, she Hamletmachine is structured as alternating is also fiercely enduring through ongoing sections focused on Hamlet and Ophelia. For millenniums of oppression. She remains dedicated Müller, Hamlet is ‘the man between the ages who to the struggle against enslavement. Working in a knows that the old age is obsolete, yet the new age dialectic of harsh opposition rather than easy has barbarian features he simply cannot stomach’ reconciliation, the play ends with a quotation from (quoted in Weber: 137). He is the man of Susan Atkins of the Manson Family: ‘When she Enlightenment reason who cannot deal with the walks through your bedrooms carrying butcher 209.
Recommended publications
  • Bibliography for the Study of Shakespeare on Film in Asia and Hollywood
    CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 Purdue University Press ©Purdue University Volume 6 (2004) Issue 1 Article 13 Bibliography for the Study of Shakespeare on Film in Asia and Hollywood Lucian Ghita Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, and the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons Dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information, Purdue University Press selects, develops, and distributes quality resources in several key subject areas for which its parent university is famous, including business, technology, health, veterinary medicine, and other selected disciplines in the humanities and sciences. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <[email protected]> Recommended Citation Ghita, Lucian. "Bibliography for the Study of Shakespeare on Film in Asia and Hollywood." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 6.1 (2004): <https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1216> The above text, published by Purdue University Press ©Purdue University, has been downloaded 2531 times as of 11/ 07/19.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tragedy of Hamlet
    THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET EDITED BY EDWARD DOWDEN n METHUEN AND CO. 36 ESSEX STREET: STRAND LONDON 1899 9 5 7 7 95 —— CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ix The Tragedy of Hamlet i Appendix I. The "Travelling" of the Players. 229 Appendix II.— Some Passages from the Quarto of 1603 231 Appendix III. Addenda 235 INTRODUCTION This edition of Hamlet aims in the first place at giving a trustworthy text. Secondly, it attempts to exhibit the variations from that text which are found in the primary sources—the Quarto of 1604 and the Folio of 1623 — in so far as those variations are of importance towards the ascertainment of the text. Every variation is not recorded, but I have chosen to err on the side of excess rather than on that of defect. Readings from the Quarto of 1603 are occa- sionally given, and also from the later Quartos and Folios, but to record such readings is not a part of the design of this edition. 1 The letter Q means Quarto 604 ; F means Folio 1623. The dates of the later Quartos are as follows: —Q 3, 1605 161 1 undated 6, For ; Q 4, ; Q 5, ; Q 1637. my few references to these later Quartos I have trusted the Cambridge Shakespeare and Furness's edition of Hamlet. Thirdly, it gives explanatory notes. Here it is inevitable that my task should in the main be that of selection and condensation. But, gleaning after the gleaners, I have perhaps brought together a slender sheaf.
    [Show full text]
  • Hamletmachine” by Heiner Müller
    Journal of History Culture and Art Research (ISSN: 2147-0626) Tarih Kültür ve Sanat Araştırmaları Dergisi Vol. 8, No. 4, December 2019 DOI: 10.7596/taksad.v8i4.2381 Citation: Kolpakova, S. G., Gataullina, V. L., & Smyslova, E. V. (2019). Historical and Political Allusions in the Drama “Hamletmachine” by Heiner Müller. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 8(4), 313-319. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v8i4.2381 Historical and Political Allusions in the Drama “Hamletmachine” by Heiner Müller Svetlana Georgievna Kolpakova1 Veronika Lubimovna Gataullina2 Ekaterina Vladimirovna Smyslova3 Abstract In terms of postmodernism а classical plot becomes more active, mobile and begins to travel through the cultural discourses in different social and political channels, thereby indirectly achieving its full inner creative potential in the minds of "postmodern" readers. The paper focuses on Müller’s "Hamletmachine" which uses the Shakespearean plot. The authors of the article explore the new features introduced by the writer into the classic plot by placing it in postmodern principles (game, changes of meanings, rhizome, blissful ignorance of consumer society) which are woven together in a syncretic way. Müller masterfully uses these devices to transmit the political ideas and describe the history of communism and the historical events. The comparative method in combination with complex descriptive analysis of the text is chosen as the main methodology. The aim of the study is to find out what purposes and what political events Müller involves
    [Show full text]
  • Hamlet-Production-Guide.Pdf
    ASOLO REP EDUCATION & OUTREACH PRODUCTION GUIDE 2016 Tour PRODUCTION GUIDE By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ASOLO REP Adapted and Directed by JUSTIN LUCERO EDUCATION & OUTREACH TOURING SEPTEMBER 27 - NOVEMBER 22 ASOLO REP LEADERSHIP TABLE OF CONTENTS Producing Artistic Director WHAT TO EXPECT.......................................................................................1 MICHAEL DONALD EDWARDS WHO CAN YOU TRUST?..........................................................................2 Managing Director LINDA DIGABRIELE PEOPLE AND PLOT................................................................................3 FSU/Asolo Conservatory Director, ADAPTIONS OF SHAKESPEARE....................................................................5 Associate Director of Asolo Rep GREG LEAMING FROM THE DIRECTOR.................................................................................6 SHAPING THIS TEXT...................................................................................7 THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET CREATIVE TEAM FACT IN THE FICTION..................................................................................9 Director WHAT MAKES A GHOST?.........................................................................10 JUSTIN LUCERO UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES......................................................................11 Costume Design BECKI STAFFORD Properties Design MARLÈNE WHITNEY WHAT TO EXPECT Sound Design MATTHEW PARKER You will see one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies shortened into a 45-minute Fight Choreography version
    [Show full text]
  • The Dramatic Space of Hamlet's Theatre
    Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, 4, 1 (2012) 59-75 “The Play’s the Thing” The Dramatic Space of Hamlet’s Theatre Balázs SZIGETI Eötvös Loránd University Department of English Studies [email protected] Abstract. In my paper I investigate the use of the dramatic space in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The tragedy will be observed with the method of “pre-performance criticism,” which first and foremost makes use of the several potentials a play contains and puts on display before an actual performance; it offers, also in the light of the secondary literature, various ways of interpretation, resulting from the close-reading of the play and considers their possible realizations in the space of the stage both from the director’s and the actor’s point of view, including the consequences the respective lines of interpretation may have as regards the play as a whole. Hamlet does not only raise the questions of the theatrical realization of a play but it also reflects on the ontology of the dramatic space by putting the performance of The Mousetrap-play into one of its focal points and scrutinises the very interaction between the dramatic space and the realm of the audience. I will discuss the process how Hamlet makes use of his private theatre and how the dramatic space is transformed as The Murder of Gonzago turns into The Mousetrap-performance. Keywords: Hamlet; The Mousetrap; dramatic space; pre-performance criticism Shakespeare’s Hamlet1 does not only raise the questions of the theatrical realization of a play but it also reflects on the ontology of the dramatic space by putting the performance of The Mousetrap-play into one of its focal points and 1 In the present paper I quote the play according to the Norton Shakespeare edition (Greenblatt et.
    [Show full text]
  • Armenian State Chamber Choir
    Saturday, April 14, 2018, 8pm First Congregational Church, Berkeley A rm e ni a n State C h am b e r Ch oir PROGRAM Mesro p Ma s h tots (362– 4 40) ༳ཱུ཮འཱུཪཱི འཻའེཪ ྃཷ I Knee l Be for e Yo u ( A hym n f or Le nt) Grikor N ar e k a tsi ( 9 51–1 0 03) གའཽཷཱཱྀུ The Bird (A hymn for Easter) TheThe Bird BirdBir d (A (A(A hymn hymnhym forn for f oEaster) rEaster) East er ) The Bird (A hymn for Easter) K Kom itas (1869–1 935) ཏཷཱྀཿཡ, ོཷཱྀཿཡ K K K Holy, H oly གའཿོའཱུཤ཮འཱུ ཤཿརཤཿ (ཉའཿ ༳) Rustic Weddin g Son g s (Su it e A , 1899 –1 90 1) ༷ཿ཮ཱུཪྀ , རཤཾཱུཪྀ , P Prayer r ayer ཆཤཿཪ཮ ེའཱུ ཯འཫའཫ 7KH%UL The B ri de’s Farewell ༻འརཽཷཿཪ ཱིཤཿ , ལཷཛཱྀོ འཿཪ To the B ride g room ’s Mo th er ༻འརཽཷཿ ཡའཿཷཽ 7KH%ULGH The Bridegroom’s Blessing ཱུ༹ ལཪཥའཱུ , BanterB an te r ༳ཱཻུཤཱི ཤཿཨའཱི ཪཱི ུའཿཧ , D ance ༷ཛཫ, ཤཛཫ Rise Up ! (1899 –190 1 ) གཷཛཽ འཿཤྃ ོའཿཤཛྷཿ ེའཱུ , O Mountain s , Brin g Bree z e (1913 –1 4) ༾ཷཻཷཱྀ རཷཱྀཨའཱུཤཿར Plowing Song of Lor i (1902 –0 6) ༵འཿཷཱཱྀུ Spring Song(190 2for, P oAtheneem by Ho vh annes Hovh anisyan) Song for Athene Song for Athene A John T a ve n er (19 44–2 013) ThreeSongSong forfSacredor AtheneAth Hymnsene A Three Sacred Hymns A Three Sacred Hymns A Three Sacred Hymns A Alfred Schn it tke (1 934–1 998) ThreeThree SacredSacred Hymns H ymn s Богородиц е Д ево, ра д уйся, Hail to th e V irgin M ary Господ и поми луй, Lord, Ha ve Mercy MissaОтч Memoriaе Наш, L ord’s Pra yer MissaK Memoria INTERMISSION MissaK Memoria Missa Memoria K K Lullaby (from T Lullaby (from T Sure on This Shining Night (Poem by James Agee) Lullaby (from T SureLullaby on This(from Shining T Night (Poem by James Agee) R ArmenianLullaby (from Folk TTunes R ArmenianSure on This Folk Shining Tunes Night (Poem by James Agee) Sure on This Shining Night (Poem by James Agee) R Armenian Folk Tunes R Armenian Folk Tunes The Bird (A hymn for Easter) K Song for Athene A Three Sacred Hymns PROGRAM David Haladjian (b.
    [Show full text]
  • Ruggeri's Amleto
    © Luke McKernan 2004 RUGGERO RUGGERI’S AMLETO Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, USA 4 November 2004 Luke McKernan Of all the products of the first thirty years of cinema, when films were silent, perhaps none were so peculiar, so intriguing, and in their way so revealing of the temper of the medium in its formative years, as silent Shakespeare films. Shakespeare in the cinema is enough of a challenge for some people; what about Shakespeare on film when you can’t hear any of the words? The film you are to see this evening is one of two hundred or more Shakespeare films that were made in the silent period of cinema. You are seeing it because it has survived (when so many films from this time have not), because it is a rarity scarcely known even by those who are expert in this area, and because it is a good and interesting film. Not a great film, but arguably the best silent Shakespeare film that exists. It is certainly a film that needs to be much better known. To those who may never have seen a silent film before, be assured that even if you can’t hear the words you will be able to read them, as such films commonly have on-screen titles throughout, and in performance they were never silent as such in any case – for you had music. Silent Shakespeare I said that more than two hundred silent Shakespeare films were made, and that is true, but few of these were feature-length, that is, an hour or more, such as this evening’s attraction.
    [Show full text]
  • Tragic Excess in Hamlet JEFFREY WILSON Downloaded from by Harvard Library User on 14 August 2019
    107 Tragic Excess in Hamlet JEFFREY WILSON Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/litimag/article-abstract/21/2/107/5450064 by Harvard Library user on 14 August 2019 August 14 on user Harvard Library by https://academic.oup.com/litimag/article-abstract/21/2/107/5450064 from Downloaded “Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar,” the aging Polonius councils his son Laertes in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1.3.60). Polonius proceeds with several additional “precepts” (1.3.57) which similarly promote the Aristotelian ideal of the golden mean, a cultural commonplace of the early-moden age which valorized the perfect middle ground between two extremes: Beware Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in, Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.... Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy. (1.3.64–70) Polonius goes on (and on), but the principle is clear. Don’t be too hot, but don’t be too cold. Don’t be too hard, but don’t be too soft. Don’t be too fast, but don’t be too slow. In each of these formulations, there is no substantive ethical good other than moderation. Virtue is thus fundamentally relational, determined by the extent to which it balances two extremes which, as extremes, are definitionally unethical. “It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean,” as Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice (1.2.6–7).1 More generally, in Hamlet,ShakespeareparalleledthesituationsofHamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras (the father of each is killed, and each then seeks revenge) to promote the virtue of moderation: Hamletmovestooslowly,Laertestooswiftly— and they both die at the end of the play—but Fortinbras represents a golden mean which marries the slowness of Hamlet with the swiftness of Laertes.
    [Show full text]
  • Hamlet As Shakespearean Tragedy: a Critical Study
    SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY HAMLET AS SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY: A CRITICAL STUDY Rameshsingh M.Chauhan ISSN 2277-7733 Assistant Professor, Volume 8 Issue 1, Sardar Vallabhbhai Vanijya Mahavidyalaya,Ahmedabad June 2019 Abstract Hamlet is often called an "Elizabethan revenge play", the theme of revenge against an evil usurper driving the plot forward as in earlier stage works by Shakespeare's contemporaries, Kyd and Marlowe, as well as by the .As in those works avenging a moral injustice, an affront to both man and God. In this case, regicide (killing a king) is a particularly monstrous crime, and there is no doubt as to whose side our sympathies are disposed. The paper presents the criticism of Hamlet as Shakespearean tragedy. Keywords: Hamlet, Tragedy, Shakespeare, Shakespearean Tragedy As in many revenge plays, and, in fact, several of Shakespeare's other tragedies (and histories), a corrupt act, the killing of a king, undermines order throughout the realm that resonates to high heaven. We learn that there is something "rotten" in Denmark after old Hamlet's death in the very first scene, as Horatio compares the natural and civil disorders that occurred in Rome at the time of Julius Caesar's assassination to the disease that afflicts Denmark. These themes and their figurative expression are common to the Elizabethan revenge play genre in which good must triumph over evil.Throughout Hamlet we encounter a great deal of word play, Shakespeare using a vast number of multivalent terms ranging from gross puns to highly-nuanced words that evoke a host of diverse associations and images. While Hamlet can tell this difference between a "hawk and a handsaw," the play challenges the assumption that language itself can convey human experience or hold stable meaning.
    [Show full text]
  • Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
    Step Four READING SHAKESPEARE.WEB William Shakespeare B2.1 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark K E Y S William Shakespeare Page 16 – exercise 2 Page 7 – exercise 1 1 The old King Hamlet 2 Polonius 1 Six 3 The old king’s funeral and 2 Because of the plague in London. Gertrude’s marriage 3 The best tragic actor in 4 The old king Hamlet Shakespeare’s time. 5 Just before midnight 4 Between 1599 and 1602. 6 Claudius 5 Unofficial transcripts of Shakespeare’s plays. Page 16 – exercise 3 (suggested answers) 1 sensitive 2 ambitious CHAPTER 1 3 independent Page 10 – exercise 1 Page 17 – exercise 4 A 3 B 6 C 1 D 5 E 4 F 2 1 refuse to do Page 10 – exercise 2 agree, decide, expect, hope, 1 Night time offer, seem 2 Hamlet and the ghost of his father old King Hamlet 2 want somebody to do 3 (suggested answer) The ghost has allow, ask, expect, help, just appeared. persuade, tell 4 (suggested answer) The ghost is 3 keep doing going to speak to Hamlet. enjoy, (not) mind, practise, Page 10 – exercise 3 spend time, stop, suggest 1 B 2 A 3 B 4 A 4 let somebody do Page 16 – exercise 1 help, make 1 C 2 E 3 A 4 D 5 F 6 B K E Y T O T H E A C T I V I T I E S Page 17 – exercise 5 Horatio, who was a close friend of 1 suggested 2 persuaded 3 decided Hamlet’s, that they had seen a ghost 4 refused 5 stop 6 spend 7 enjoyed on the battlements.
    [Show full text]
  • Alas Poor Yorick. Hamlet and Kristeva's Maginary Father
    E. Denbo / PsyArt 21 (2017) 143–158 ‘Alas Poor Yorick!’: Hamlet and Kristeva’s Imaginary Father Elise Denbo Queensborough Community College City University of New York Most psychological approaches interpret Shakespeare’s Hamlet within a Lacanian/Oedipal revenge narrative. This paper, however, explores Shakespeare’s Hamlet through theories of Julia Kristeva, who develops a term called ‘the imaginary father,’ which she revisions from Freud’s ‘father of individual prehistory.’ The notion of an archaic/imaginary father as a hybrid locus (a mother-father amalgam) within the semiotic domain not only introduces new perspectives to consider the role of fatherhood but also the affective (and material) nature of transference/countertransference in Shakespeare’s plays. The dramatization of Hamlet’s “inner mystery” as opposed to his outer “show” has not been explored as an intrapsychic activity regarding an archaic father of imaginary ambivalence. Despite the scene’s brevity (5.1), considering Yorick as Hamlet’s father of individual prehistory reconfigures symbolic mastery to explore the unfolding development of Shakespearean character as a metaphorical process, a presymbolic activity rather than fixed representation, dramatizing the corporeal struggle for psychic and creative space. To cite as Denbo, E., 2017, ‘‘Alas Poor Yorick!’: Hamlet and Kristeva’s Imaginary Father’, PsyArt 21, pp. 143–158. Most playgoers are familiar with the unique encounter between Hamlet and Yorick, the long departed court jester unearthed from his grave, that Shakespeare positions in counterpoint to the early appearance of King Hamlet’s ghost, an event which combined with his mother’s sudden marriage to his uncle sets the play in motion.
    [Show full text]
  • Dean Hamlet at Glyndebourne & Beyond
    October 2017 Dean Hamlet at Glyndebourne & beyond Brett Dean’s new opera Hamlet won acclaim at its Glyndebourne premiere in June, tours in the UK this autumn and travels to the Adelaide Festival in March. Shakespeare’s classic play has been successfully put it on” – discussions are already underway recast by composer Brett Dean as a powerful with leading opera houses in Europe and North and multi-layered opera, attracting acclaim from America to schedule territorial premieres. press and public alike at its premiere in June. The Glyndebourne staging of Hamlet by Neil Armfield Matthew Jocelyn’s libretto for Hamlet is a masterly featured a starry cast led by Allan Clayton in the title distillation of the various versions of Shakespeare’s role, Barbara Hannigan, Sarah Connolly, Rod Gilfry text, reduced from 30,000 words into a two-act and John Tomlinson, with the London Philharmonic opera. The dramatic focus points towards family Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski. dynamics rather than affairs of state, allowing Dean to probe characters and inner conflicts while walking the tightrope between tragedy “…it rises to the challenge and comedy. set by Shakespeare’s great “A magnificent new opera on Hamlet... Forget play…” The Guardian Cumberbatch. Forget even Gielgud. I haven’t seen a more physically vivid, emotionally affecting or psychologically astute portrayal of the Prince of Denmark The production was webcast, screened in than Allan Clayton gives in this sensational production. UK cinemas and returns this autumn on Dean’s skill at creating a supercharged orchestral subtext Glyndebourne’s tour, visiting Canterbury, Norwich, to each scene is matched by his immense theatricality.
    [Show full text]