Queensland Ballet
Hamlet
Talbot Theatre
June 19
The works of William Shakespeare have always been rich pickings for dance. Think A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, Othello, and the gold standard of Shakespearean ballets, Romeo and Juliet. Not only are these dramatic, emotional narratives enormously attractive to both choreographers and audiences, the physical rhythm of Shakespeare’s text also lends itself to a dance interpretation.
Hamlet, perhaps the grimmest of Shakespearean tragedies, has inspired several choreographers, attracted by the universality and timelessness of the play’s themes, along with its abundance of characters, parallel stories and plots. The possibilities for interpretation are endless.
Croatian choreographer Leo Mujić, already internationally renowned for his ability to translate literary narratives into ballets, was likewise compelled by the contemporary relevance of the story of Hamlet, and the belief that sometimes text resonates more powerfully when expressed through movement. His Hamlet is testament to this belief. Premiered by the Croatian National Ballet in 2023, and picked up for this month-long season by Queensland Ballet, the ballet is a powerful interpretation of Shakespeare’s play.
Neatly divided into two densely packed acts, it follows the play in detail, not only delving into the psychodrama of the key characters but also incorporating large ensembles both of courtiers, and black-clad, masked dancers who effectively act as Hamlet’s thoughts and inner conflict.
Visually the work is striking, evoking a gothic grandeur in its setting by Stefano Katunar, where tall, concrete-grey sections seamlessly slide sideways across the stage, creating different scenic configurations that frame the action. A surfeit of misty fog completes the gloomy atmosphere, all lit by Ben Hughes to Aleksandar Čavlek’s design.
Costumes by Manuela Paladin Šabanović are striking; rich brocades, silk, and leather details nod to the medieval, while the courtiers’ brocade frock coats and voluminous, full-skirted dresses of tulle and silk heighten the movement.
Notwithstanding the absence of a live orchestra in the smaller Talbot Theatre, it is the music that ties the whole ballet together. Mujić has taken selections from the works of Tchaikovsky and Camille Saint-Saëns and arranged them and the dramatic action to perfectly support each other.
The pace and intensity of the score is particularly relentless in the first act, from the powerful opening tableau showing Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, scattering white flower petals over the grave of the king, Hamlet’s father, to its last moments as Hamlet drags the body of the murdered Polonius across the stage.
Throughout, the movement is consistently clear in its dramatic intention, despite the complexity of the narrative. Mujić’s terrific mastery of the theatrical helps here, although the unexpected vocal exclamations by dancers at seemingly random moments seemed a little gratuitous. Nevertheless, movement firmly anchored in the classical, with a contemporary overlay, including high extensions, turns and soaring grand jetés, often framed by angled arms and stiffly articulated fingers, captures the essence of the drama. Early on, in one breath-catching, repeated moment of colour and movement, the female courtiers, in wide fourth positions en pointe, are propelled speedily en masse across the stage by their partners, all executed flawlessly by a company that continues to grow.
Edison Manuel strongly anchored the work in the titular role, his convulsive movements clearly conveying the inner turmoil of his obsession with his father’s murder. As Ophelia, Libby-Rose Niederer was a counterpoint to the surrounding gloom, light, lyrical and with beautifully elegant lines. Ophelia’s drowning is poetically described when, held aloft by a wave of dancers, she dips, spins and weaves before sinking to her death.
Georgia Swan, always strong in dramatic roles, captured the complexity of the Gertrude character; her distress on learning of Ophelia’s suicide was palpable in a passionate duet with Joseph Moss as Claudius.
The appearance of the ghost of Hamlet’s father is cleverly told, with the statuesque Joshua Ostermann an imposing, commanding presence. Other key roles were given solid dramatic weight by Rian Thompson as Polonius, Taron Geyl as Laertes, and Vito Bernasconi and Renee Freeman as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, what I assume was a counter-nod to the Elizabethan custom of casting men in women’s roles by giving the roles of Guildenstern and Horatio, danced by Kaho Kato, to women, was less convincing.
The ballet’s final tragedy, with all the protagonists now dead, has Fortinbras calmly taking over the throne. It’s a moment of stillness after the preceding turmoil, that almost engenders a collective sigh of relief from the audience, it has been such an emotional ride. Nevertheless, if you can make it, it’s a ride that shouldn’t be missed.
– Denise Richardson