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HAMLET - RnD
This was an experimental project in collaboration with the ATC (Acco Theatre Company) and funded by the Arts Council England. We completed a three week research and development period with artists from the region which aim was to create responses to some of the themes found in Hamlet. Director Keziah Serreau and artist Amie Burns Walker then presented the work to an invited audience at Richmix.
Below are a series of videos created by SDNA during the research and development time.
The first is designed to give a sense of the environment in which we were creating the work.
Short documentary showing extracts from our travels in Israel while working on the Hamlet project. A research into an immersive adaptation of Hamlet using artists from Israel and Britain. A cross disciplinary project fusing theatre, dance, music, installation art and circus developed in collaboration with Acco Theatre Centre in summer 2013.Director Keziah Serreau and the lead artist, Amie Burns Walker. Video artists Ben Foot and Valentina Floris (SDNA). Hamlet is about grief. Each character grieves for the loss of someone that has suffered a violent death. Polonius is stabbed, The King is poisoned and Ophelia drowns. This is a theme much closer to home for Israeli and Palestinians as it is a reality for many people and we want to bring the significance of this to a British Audience.
The second video focuses on process. We discovered through development that the responses to Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' speech, wether to take action or stay passive, were at the center of the lives of the artists we were working with. We decided to abandon the original language of the play, which became a barrier and to create a much more physical and visual approach that felt more rooted in the actors own stories and realities.
Short documentary showing extracts from the workshops held in Acco exploring Hamlet. A research in an immersive adaptation of Hamlet using artists from Israel and Britain. A cross disciplinary project fusing theatre, dance, music, installation art and circus developed in collaboration with Acco Theatre Centre in summer 2013.Director Keziah Serreau and the lead artist, Amie Burns Walker. Video artists Ben Foot and Valentina Floris (SDNA). Hamlet is about grief. Each character grieves for the loss of someone that has suffered a violent death. Polonius is stabbed, The King is poisoned and Ophelia drowns. This is a theme much closer to home for Israeli and Palestinians as it is a reality for many people and we want to bring the significance of this to a British Audience.
In this video we posed the question 'What souvenir would you recommend to bring back from Israel?' and these were the responses........
During interviews at Acco Theatre we asked participants to recomend a souvenir to take back from Israel. This is how they responded. A research in an immersive adaptation of Hamlet using artists from Israel and Britain. A cross disciplinary project fusing theatre, dance, music, installation art and circus developed in collaboration with Acco Theatre Centre in summer 2013.Director Keziah Serreau and the lead artist, Amie Burns Walker. Video artists Ben Foot and Valentina Floris (SDNA). Hamlet is about grief. Each character grieves for the loss of someone that has suffered a violent death. Polonius is stabbed, The King is poisoned and Ophelia drowns. This is a theme much closer to home for Israeli and Palestinians as it is a reality for many people and we want to bring the significance of this to a British Audience.
We created a series of scenes based on the play set in the different arches around the city. These are to be edited and projected as part of the final performance.
Extracts of some of the work developed with Israeli performers during our 2 weeks residency in Acco. A research into an immersive adaptation of Hamlet using artists from Israel and Britain. A cross disciplinary project fusing theatre, dance, music, installation art and circus developed in collaboration with Acco Theatre Centre in summer 2013.Director Keziah Serreau and the lead artist, Amie Burns Walker. Video artists Ben Foot and Valentina Floris (SDNA). Hamlet is about grief. Each character grieves for the loss of someone that has suffered a violent death. Polonius is stabbed, The King is poisoned and Ophelia drowns. This is a theme much closer to home for Israeli and Palestinians as it is a reality for many people and we want to bring the significance of this to a British Audience.