张百乔女友裸照

An Interview With Cast Members Of The Bad Hamlet

By Julia Bifulco, The Plant

Singing, sword fighting, and more surprises: the three S鈥檚 of The Bad Hamlet . 鈥淚t鈥檚 just an alternate text of the same Hamlet that everyone knows,鈥� says Jake Cohen, who will be playing Hamlet, 鈥渂ut a lot crazier鈥� than the longest tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Directed by St茅phane Zarov, The Bad Hamlet is on at Dawson from Nov. 13 – Nov. 23.

Costumes and props on set are 鈥渁 mix of both鈥� Elizabethan and modern design, says Vanessa Aparicio, who is also playing Hamlet but in an all-female cast. 鈥淗amlet鈥檚 gonna pull out his phone at some point,鈥� says Boris Kirimidtchiev, who will be portraying Horatio, 鈥渁nd the king is wearing a Hugo Boss suit.鈥� The cast members agree that 鈥渢here are a lot of anachronisms鈥� in their play, meaning that items will appear in a time period that isn鈥檛 their own; in this case, 21st century objects in an Elizabethan setting.

Each year, the third-year students of the professional theatre program at Dawson put on a performance of a Shakespeare play, alternating yearly between a comedy and a tragedy. Regarding the choice of play, Elisa Belle, who will be playing Gertrude the queen, claims 鈥渢hey don鈥檛 let us in on the secrets.鈥�

According to the cast members, Zarov 鈥渄efinitely chose a challenging one,鈥� but all agree that they are pleased with the work they are doing.

鈥淲e have music, we have onstage combat鈥攊t鈥檚 never gonna be boring,鈥� Cohen assures. Both casts are performing a shorter version of Hamlet , which runs for an hour and 40 minutes, as opposed to the original script, which has a four-hour-long runtime.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all the interesting parts,鈥� Cohen says. Belle confirms that their version is 鈥渦nedited, so it鈥檚 shorter to begin with.鈥�

Aparicio, lead actress of the all-female cast, states that many scenes for both casts are 鈥渟imilar,鈥� but they have 鈥渄ifferent blockings,鈥� as well as 鈥渨ays that [characters] interact with each other.鈥�

Cohen confirms that both casts rehearse separately, performing diverse versions of the play. 鈥淚f you come by on one night and enjoy yourself, you know that if you come back another night, you鈥檙e getting a new thing,鈥� he says.

Casts don鈥檛 watch one another鈥檚 rehearsals: 鈥渂oth of our interpretations are very much our own,鈥� says Belle. 鈥淥ne is a lot more comedic, and one is a lot darker,鈥� Aparicio remarks, but cast members will not reveal which one is which. If one were to watch the play twice, they would get two very different experiences.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something that kind of happened naturally,鈥� says Aparicio of the development of the all-female cast. The program already consists of more women than men, and when the two casts were formed, originally, one had only two male actors, so Zarov decided to make it fully female.

鈥淓ven to this day there are productions that are put on with all-male casts,鈥� Belle says, just like it was in Elizabethan times, 鈥淪ince this play is already turned on its head, it would be cool to inverse that idea.鈥� Cast members agree.

鈥淪hakespeare is very hard to read when you鈥檙e just looking at it,鈥� Belle says, 鈥渁nd I think seeing a show, especially this one, is very visual and is a great way to introduce yourself to Shakespeare.鈥� She hopes that students who watch their show 鈥渆nd up understanding it and having a newer appreciation for it.鈥�

鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 very accessible,鈥� Cohen agrees, 鈥淚f you aren鈥檛 into Shakespeare, a clown鈥檚 gonna come on, someone鈥檚 gonna fight someone鈥攚hatever your relationship to Shakespeare is, there鈥檚 something for everyone.鈥�

The cast members aim to 鈥渁ppeal to the 80 per cent,鈥� according to Aparicio, meaning those who 鈥渦nderstand Shakespeare a little bit more鈥� but the other 20 per cent are definitely not neglected in this performance. Aparicio confirms that it is fast-paced and action-packed enough to hold everyone鈥檚 interest: 鈥渋t鈥檚 Hamlet on running shoes鈥攍iterally, we鈥檙e all in running shoes on stage.鈥�

鈥淚t opens a lot of people鈥檚 minds when it comes to Shakespeare,鈥� Kirimidtchiev remarks of the play. Prior to joining the program, he felt a degree of separation to Shakespearian characters: 鈥淭hey were a bunch of aristocrats that spoke beautifully, and I was a completely different human.鈥� Thanks to the anachronisms, Kirimidtchiev believes that they are able to draw a link between Shakespearian characters and the modern audience: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not gonna feel drawn away from them,鈥� he says.

鈥淭his is the first time that this edition of the text is being performed in Montreal,鈥� Cohen points out, 鈥渨hich is rare for a Shakespeare play.鈥� If you鈥檇 like to be a part of history and see the first ever performance of this edition of Hamlet in Montreal, go to the Dawson Theatre from November 13 -23! Don鈥檛 forget your running shoes (and your skulls鈥攁las, poor Yorick!).