A powerful new interpretation of Hamlet is brought to life through puppetry and physical performance. Younge’s Hamlet premieres at the National Arts Festival and features Mongi Mtombeni and Siyamthanda Sinani as Hamlet, with Andrew Buckland as Claudius and Roshina Ratnam as Queen Gertrude.

Commanded by the ghost of his father to avenge his death, Hamlet must grapple with the value of a life and what it means to ‘set things right.’ Caught between love and anger, immediate revenge and ultimate retribution, Hamlet fights to right his world shattered by murder.

The poetry and emotional magnitude of Shakespeare’s words are echoed in the scale and energy of the puppets. Gestural, evocative figures blend and reconfigure themselves as characters grapple with the depths of grief and passion. Hamlet’s internal struggles play out visibly in the puppetry, as each puppet is a ‘physical being’ supported by the ‘emotional being’ of the performers.

This is an intense, high energy interpretation of Hamlet focused on the heart of Hamlet’s personal conflict.