LIKE HAMLET. Written by Andi Colombo. Directed by Kanya Viljoen, with Kathleen Stephens, Matthew Stuurman, Mlondi Dubazane and Andi Colombo. Theatre Arts Admin Collective.
KAT MANNE reviews
It is a difficult feat, performing an iconic play like Hamlet, but creating a modern take on this Shakespearean tragedy is considerably more challenging. A young and talented Andi Colombo managed to do both under the direction of Kanya Viljoen and alongside fellow actors Mlondi Dubazane, Kathleen Stephens and Matthew Stuurman.
The setting: an old church serving as the location of the Theatre Arts Admin Collective. Upon entry, we passed the stage with a giggling actress and soft humming. The light on the audience dimmed but the giggling continued as the humming grew louder and more distinct. Another actress started retching and shortly after the audience was significantly disturbed, the dialogue began.
Inner turmoil
The characters are meant to be separated from their original context in Shakespeare’s play. Their movements are jarring and often worrying as they fall short of falling or slipping out of someone’s arms. The language guides us as much as it confuses us, grounding the audience in a modern space with what seems to be a heightened sense of melancholy and turmoil. Each character has an obsession with a person or an event and they return to it through dialogue, often abandoning what is happening in the present to reminisce and criticise their actions or inaction.
Obsession
The lively cast gave us a conflicted depiction of the intimacy, anger and madness of Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude and Claudius. They moved with grace but their words were disjointed, their sudden movements, irksome and their self-awareness, displaced. The way in which the characters were bound to each other by varying levels and types of toxicity was one of the most intriguing aspects of the performance. Where Claudius was obsessed with Gertrude, she only thought of a young Hamlet, and Hamlet spoke about his dear Ophelia.
A spectral space
The pace of the play sped up as the volume of the humming increased and Gertrude’s laughter became more disturbing. They often referred to “it” to which many responded “I know”, indicating that their varying obsessions are all linked to this one event. The only character that does not seem completely encompassed by this tense and bizarre – almost spectral space – is Claudius. Perhaps he is unaffected because he lacks the empathy to understand how murder and loss affects people which means that the spectral, mourning space is hard for him to grasp because he is not grieving. He is linked to space by his desire for Gertrude and the others are similarly linked, but also lost, as they deal with their own demons and their own sorrow.
Like Hamlet was an intense and highly surprising play, showcasing the disturbed and conflicted psyche we are used to seeing in Hamlet manifesting in those around him.
WS
