Shakespeare on the Sask. reimagines Hamlet in the Roaring Twenties

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Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan is lighting up the riverbank this summer with 1920s glitz and glamour, jazz and parties, opulent costumes and iconic art deco sets.

But when audiences leave the bright, sunny courtyard party to come into the theatre every night, there is still something rotten in the heart of Denmark.

Hamlet, the first Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan main stage production, opens Friday night and will run until the last week of August.

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From now until then, the company is inviting Saskatoon audiences to immerse themselves in the story from a new angle, displacing the tragedy from the Middle Ages to the flapper age.

“Early on, when I was thinking about Hamlet, I kept finding myself interested in this ‘hundred-year echo,’ ” said Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan artistic director Kayvon Khoshkam, who is also directing this production.

“Here we are, again, in the ’20s, and there seems to be this repetition: Coming off of a pandemic, war, changing culture; how people are holding and dealing with trauma or deferring that trauma with distraction. …

“I thought there was something interesting about Hamlet as this figure who is dealing with trauma and loss and mourning, but there’s a constant party around him. He’s living in a space that is not reflective of his pain, that is just trying to move on and have a great time.”

For actor Praneet Akilla, experiencing this version of Hamlet has been an “inspiration” to find new facets of Shakespeare’s words and poetry.

“The language is incredible, but Shakespeare just finds a way to get down to the truth and hit you right in the heartstrings,” he said. “A lot of Hamlet takes place in this royal family construct where party appearances need to be kept up and a certain facade need to be maintained at all times.

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“But then there is Hamlet, this post-war figure in a world that has been through war, whose father was this admired general who is now dead. And Hamlet now has to stand there looking at these people putting on their masks and acting, while he is the only one who can see the stark truth of what is happening and grieving throughout this whole spectacle of opulence.

“We all go through grief and death and loss, and this play has so much relevance to the world we live in.”

Setting the play in the 1920s wasn’t only a way to highlight new contrasts and parallels; it also gave the Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan designers a fresh palate of colours and aesthetic inspirations to draw from.

“Finding a way to blend the glitz and the glam of the time while still being true to the theatre space was really, really fun,” said costume designer Jensine Emeline, who created more than 50 separate ‘looks’ for this production.

“There are a lot of costumes and a lot of characters, and only a few cast members play the same character throughout, so we get to explore a whole bunch of different styles within the show.”

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While Hamlet can be a daunting story — Shakespeare’s longest play; a tragedy; a plot fuelled by tangled allegiances, betrayals and double-crossings — Khoshkam said the goal of this summer’s production was to make the story inviting, accessible and fresh.

“I know some people feel intimidated by the text sometimes, but we’re enriching all the story points, so you’ll have a strong feeling of what’s going on with the characters,” he said. “(And) one of the things I’m excited that we’re doing breaks the expectations of where the show starts and where the show lives, so audiences will feel like they were part of it.”

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