Crossgendered Hamlet

[cdybedahl]

jennyaxe and I just returned from watching Stockholm City Theater's Hamlet, with the locally famous actress Helena Bergström as Prince Hamlet. Which was pretty much what made us go. Not that it was her, exactly, since we're not fans of hers, but that they did the cross-gender thing.

Overall, it was very good. Better than I expected, to be honest. Bergström was a great Hamlet, and the rest of the cast varied from pretty good to excellent. The scenography was very sparse. It consisted only of six huge wedge-shaped pillars that moved around the stage (seemingly under their own power) to make up what walls were needed, plus a lot of creative work with smoke and lights. Very cool and very effective.

Apart from Hamlet, they had also chosen to cast an actress in the role of Horatio. And since I've never actually seen a stage production of Hamlet before, I've got to ask those of you who have: is the relationship between Hamlet and Horatio usually played as being really amazingly slashy? Because in this version, the slashiness was not subtle. They hugged just about every time they met, and kept touching each other almost constantly when they were in the same scene. When they weren't touching, it was usually because Hamlet was busy doing something, and the body language of the woman playing Horatio (Sanna Krepper) was totally focused on her. Him. Whatever. There should be a picture near here of Hamlet lying with his head in Horatio's lap.

Oh, and I'd been wondering if they'd choose to keep Hamlet's and Ophelia's relationship off-stage as much as possible, to avoid the f/f thing. The answer to that was "Really not". A few of the early Hamlet-less scenes had him and Ophelia snogging at the back of the stage...

So, in short: If you're in Stockholm and feel like watching a pretty kick-ass rendition of Hamlet, go see this one. If you'd be interested in seeing Helena Bergström be femslashy, you have to see this play. Really.

Comments

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Dammit!

I'm going to miss out on that.

Gina

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

the relationship between Hamlet and Horatio usually played as being really amazingly slashy?

IMO, it's always, always better when it is.

But, no: not always.