Hamlet vs Hamlet

Face to face with himself

Guy Cassiers and Tom Lanoye are continuing their successful collaboration. Following Mefisto for ever, Atropa en Bloed & rozen, they are now focusing on ‘the play of all plays’: Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

For his adaptation of Hamlet, Tom Lanoye delves into the psychology of adolescence. Hamlet and Ophelia are on the threshold of adulthood. Unlike characters such as Romeo and Juliet, who are still young teenagers, Hamlet is old enough to detect the Machiavellian machinations going on around him. But he still cherishes the youthful desire for purity. The doubt and confusion this generates lead to major paralysis. Hamlet can no longer commit his patricide, but has to witness how, following his father’s death, his mother does not choose him, but a 'new' father, Claudius. The 'half grown’ Hamlet feels crushed by the world of adults. This creates a character who vacillates between self-hatred and an inflated ego, and between contempt for himself and disdain for the ‘impure’ world. Hamlet’s tormented monologues are simultaneously a cry from the heart and an exorcism, indictment and invocation. He becomes entangled in the nets of madness and the theatricality with which he presents himself. In pursuing his ambitions and fighting his fears he comes face to face with himself: Hamlet vs Hamlet.

• Cassiers directs this adaptation with actors from Toneelhuis and Toneelgroep Amsterdam. This is the first of four collaborative projects by the two companies, which are planned for between 2014 and 2016.