The Tiger Lillies are an esoteric band. It’s not often you find someone who makes blasphemy a major theme. However behind the inch thick makeup up and farce are some talented musicians. Only a passing knowledge of the band is enough to know that this wasn’t going to be a typical production.
Working with the Republique, it was an impressive production combining music, dance, theatre and cinema with excellent set design and choreography to make an interesting dream-like experience. Whilst remaining faithful, a very minimal approach to the original text was taken. The cast was stripped down to Hamlet, his family, Ophelia and her family. Dialogue was minimal. Most progression of the story took place in the form of soliloquies and the pairing of apt choreography and music.
The use of slow-motion and stripping the story down to its core emphasized the descent into madness. Without Horatio there are no other witnesses to the dead king’s ghost leading to Hamlet coming across unhinged from scene one. Without Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Hamlet rants to himself using the cast as puppets or figments of Hamlet’s imagination.
The climax of the play wouldn’t be complete with a string of deaths, and to this end the production does as expected. However, when you remove the minor characters and more than half of the remaining characters lie dead. It makes the characters personal ambition seem more futile.
Hamlet isn’t a play I know particularly well. I did have to make intuitive leaps as the play progressed due to the format being relatively abstract. However, there was a cohesive sense of atmosphere and degeneration. Leaving I did hear some mixed reactions including “once I got over it wasn’t what I expected”, which is fair. But it would be a shame if every production was typical and predictable. Prior knowledge needed is a legitimate complaint, but Hamlet is so ingrained in our culture my second hand cursory knowledge was enough to get me through. However, working with the style the did I think they did a fantastic job and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Mike Ramnarine 