Bell Shakespeare has unveiled its splendid 2020 season exploring two of William Shakespeare’s most popular and classic plays, re-imagined for 21st century audiences, Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors. Touring to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, these two productions are bound to be a hit with audiences as Shakespeare's universal insights bring inspiration and truth to the uncertain world in which we live in today.
"From humble beginnings in a circus tent, to presenting a program I couldn’t be more excited to share on stages around Australia in 2020, Bell Shakespeare has come a very long way in 30 years.” says Artistic Director Peter Evans. “Shakespeare and the other classic plays we present challenge our beliefs and urge us to see ourselves in a new light. Their ability to discover the things that make us human inspires us to make work that challenges preconceptions and encourages new interpretations and contemporary parallels – work that speaks to every age."
The end of the world is nigh. In fact, it is just mere hours away. But for seven people there is something more pressing at hand. These seven actors have come together for one final time to stage Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Eventually what is fiction and what is reality is not as clear as it once was as the group attempts to accept what is happening outside while remaining committed to their last rehearsal and to their roles.
As Hamlet's story unfolds, links are made between the tale and the actors' personal lives that are impossible to ignore, and everything begins to slowly and painfully unravel. The ensemble - Chris Beckey, Katrina Cornwell, Nicole Harvey, Thomas Hutchins, Polly Sará, Peta Ward and Mitch Wood - deliver utterly engrossing performances as the actors in the play and as the characters within the play of the play. They find nuanced balanced of showing the truth of both their characters and highlighting the similarities and differences to who they are playing.
Bell Shakespeare has unveiled its splendid 2020 season exploring two of William Shakespeare’s most popular and classic plays, re-imagined for 21st century audiences, Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors. Touring to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, these two productions are bound to be a hit with audiences as Shakespeare's universal insights bring inspiration and truth to the uncertain world in which we live in today.
