Prague Shakespeare Company, bremer shakespeare company, Odesa Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater
in association with Narodni divadlo and Letní shakespearovské slavnosti present the We Are Hamlet Project production of
HAMLET
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Guy Roberts
Performed in English, German, Ukrainian, and Czech
Czech surtitles with translations by Martin Hilsky
PSC in association with Narodni divadlo at the Estates Theatre – Prague, Czech Republic
29 June at 19:00 – BOOK TICKETS NOW
30 June at 19:00 – BOOK TICKETS NOW
PSC in association with Letní shakespearovské slavnosti at Prague Castle – Prague, Czech Republic
23 August at 20:30 – BOOK TICKETS NOW
The EU Creative Europe Grant program is supporting a ground-breaking and historical theatre collaboration between the the Prague Shakespeare Company in Prague, Czech Republic, bremer shakespeare company in Bremen, Germany and The Odesa Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater named after Vasyl Vasylko in Odesa, Ukraine to create a unique theatrical experience: the WE ARE HAMLET Project’s production of Shakespeare’s timeless classic: HAMLET.
The WE ARE HAMLET Project is a new multi-lingual, English-language based theatrical reimagining of William Shakespeare’s HAMLET created by an international company of diverse artists, theatre makers and educators collaborating together to enlighten, inspire, educate and entertain audiences across Europe and the world. The Artistic Team of HAMLET will be comprised of artists from each partner theatre, working together under the direction of Guy Roberts, Artistic Director of PSC.
HAMLET, by William Shakespeare, is the single play in the Western tradition that encompasses the central questions of existence that applies to all humans across social, political, economic, educational, environmental, religious and racial boundaries. It is a quintessential European play rooted in classical principles of examining the essential questions – Who Am I? Why Do I Exist? What Must I Do?
When we understand Hamlet, we understand ourself. When we understand ourself then we can begin to understand and empathize with others as well. It is no accident that Hamlet is one of the most popular plays around the world and every country finds something within the play that speaks to their national character and temperament. By exploring Hamlet through a multiplicity of views and artistic sensibilities with a multi-national and multi-lingual artistic company we seek to find the common experiences and humanity we all share across national boundaries and discover the truly European nature of the play and each other.
HAMLET will also honor the future of Europe by including displaced Ukrainian actors as the group of homeless, travelling players who feature as part of the production. None of the Ukrainian actors will play Hamlet – to highlight that until Ukraine is a free, democratic and fully European country that Ukraine has no voice and must exist on the fringes and margins of European society.
Through live theatrical performances in Germany, the Czech Republic and Ukraine as well as other international theatre festivals within and without Europe and a large educational initiative supported by a special documentary chronicling the journey of the project, WE ARE HAMLET stimulates the imagination and fires the creativity of people across Europe and especially in Ukraine, giving us hope for the future and a model of international cooperation and mutual trust and understanding through the performing arts.
The WE ARE HAMLET Project unites the European past, present and future.
The bremer shakespeare company in Germany comes from a forward-thinking Western tradition of industry and thought; consequently, the bsc Artistic Team of HAMLET represents in some ways OLD Europe – the team are all native Germans with familial roots in Germany and Europe going back generations.
The Prague Shakespeare Company from the Czech Republic is a product of the NEW Europe – pulled from the shadows of occupation by the former Soviet Union and transformed by the Czech Republic opening its borders to the Western, English-speaking world; the PSC Artistic Team of HAMLET is truly international as is modern Europe – a combination of native Czechs with familial roots in the Czech Republic going back generations as well as immigrants and expats who have willingly moved to the Czech Republic and established long-term roots to create a new future in a new home country.
The Odesa Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater named after Vasyl Vasylko, represents the FUTURE of Europe as their Artistic Team struggles to escape tyranny and the War from Russian aggression and establish their identities as displaced individuals and refugees forced by circumstance to flee their home and hoping to create a new home in Europe and bring a Ukraine into the European community.
Cast
Svea Auerbach: Hamlet & Polonius
Jessica Boone: Hamlet
Gregory Gudgeon: Hamlet & Horatio
Karel Hermanek ml.: Hamlet, Bernardo & Rosencrantz
Alina Katrechko: Hamlet & Ophelia
Renee Lamari: Hamlet & Ophelia
Tim Lee: Hamlet & Guildenstern
Taylor Napier: Hamlet, Marcellus & Laertes
Guy Roberts: Claudius
Erik Roßbander: Hamlet, Ghost, First Player, Lucianus, Priest & Fortinbras
Vera Timofeeva: Hamlet, Second Player, Player King & Gravedigger
Olena Zavhordinova: Hamlet & Gertrude
Creatives
Director & Adaptation: Guy Roberts
Stage & Costume Designers: Heike Neugebauer with Ulrike Schimitschek
Lighting Designer: Přemysl Janda
Composers: Patrick Neil Doyle & Ivan Zavgorodnii
Assistant Director: Martina Lübbing
Stage Manager: Renee Lamari
Shakespeare Consultant: Professor Paul Prescott
Touring Technican: Kai Henkhus
Production
Producers: Renate Heitmann, Tim Lee, Yulia Pivovarova, Oleksii Remishevskyi, and Guy Roberts
Project Coordinators: Oleksandr Samusenko
Administrator: Anna Aleff, Martina Lübbing
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of CREATIVE EUROPE. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Financováno Evropskou unií. Názory a názory vyjádřené jsou však pouze názory autora (autorů) a nemusí nutně odrážet názory Evropské unie nebo CREATIVE EUROPE. Evropská unie ani orgán poskytující podporu za ně nemohou nést odpovědnost.
