Hamlet in Concert at the Theatre

Last Tuesday we went to the theatre Puccini in Florence to see “Hamlet in concert”, based on the famous tragedy of Shakespeare.

The Shakespearean masterpiece puts staging the inner anguish of the young prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who, discovered the horrible plan behind the death of his father, cultivates revenge against his uncle, murderer and usurper, but fought by doubts and insecurities continually delaying action until the tragic epilogue.

Interpreting in an original way the figure of young Hamlet the director, Grant Fraser, abandons the dark drama of the Elizabethan opera to realize a show which develops over the notes of the grandiose 80s rock. That's “Hamlet in concert", whose plot remains almost entirely linked to the original one.

In this musical Hamlet with his doubts and insecurities, closely remembers a teenager of nowadays; the music becomes a way of expression and protest: the young prince seems like the eternal teenager that hates his family, he doesn’t know what he wants from his life, he struggles against himself and against the world too. He tries to escape from the torments of everyday life through art, like Graffiti art.

The director recasts the story of Hamlet through the sounds of Rolling Stone, Pink Floyd, U2, Queen and others; their music intertwine to the verses of the great Shakespearean classic. Also the characters on stage assume the profile of famous rock star: for example, the young Hamlet directly remembers, with his black dress and studded belt, the post punk people in England, Ophelia may be related to the most famous pop stars of the 80s, even the Queen with leather boots; and the uncle with Heavy Metal t-shirt, accompanied by boots and cowboy hat, seem to come from a Hard Rock band (the character that the audience like most) mainly youth, perhaps due to his strange way of introducing himself: in any case also the other characters, perhaps less important, like Ophelia's father, can be fun.

The comedy is very funny and the actors are very good, so much that despite being in the original language it was not difficult to follow the story, thanks to their talent and the presence of songs. Another thing that struck much the audience was the presence of special effects, such apparitions of ghosts and many more, which have increased the attraction of all those present.

Mirko Risaliti - Cantiani Michele - Goretti Martina