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<\/a><\/p>\nIf you like to keep up suspense, do not read further as I am about to give some spoilers. First of all, Hamlet\u2019s father\u2019s death turns out to have been murder by poison rather than an accidental snakebite. There are also other deaths: Ophelia, Polonius, and \u2013 in the end \u2013 practically everybody dies. (Not Horatio, though.) <\/p>\n
This is good for the undertaker’s business \u2013 in the show presented in a very provoking, even thought-provoking way. <\/p>\n
One of the most striking elements in the Turku Hamlet is the set. It combines traditional and contemporary elements in a very inventive way. In the programme booklet, the scenographer Markus Tsokkinen comments on the Finnish terms for building the set \u2013 \u2018lavastaa\u2019 and \u2018kulissit\u2019 \u2013 as derogatory terms for deception whereas he considers the set a way to enhance the truth elements of a play. Considering this, the amalgamation of old and new functions very well in bringing Shakespeare\u2019s vision to us today.<\/p>\n
Hamlet is one of the Bard’s big tragedies. In Finland it has been produced almost once in a decade after the first production in 1906, and it has been translated several times: by Paavo Cajander (1879), Yrj\u00f6 Jylh\u00e4 (1955), Lauri Sipari (1975), Eeva-Liisa Manner (1981), Veijo Meri (1982) and Matti Rossi (2013). The Turku Hamlet is based on Manner\u2019s translation but with noticeable changes in the dialogue.<\/p>\n
For a tragedy, Paavo Westerberg has direected a highly humorous \u2013 but in no way banal \u2013 version of Hamlet\u2019s story. (Although Yorick might disagree.) It is multimedial, multilingual, intertextual, intermedial, intercultural \u2013 in short, multi-inter! <\/p>\n
One of the most surprising things, personally, was Claudius. Eero Aho\u2019s acting here was excellent, but Carl-Kristian Rundman as Polonius (very much like Gollum), Pia Andersson as Ophelia (rebel girl) and, especially, Jussi Nikkil\u00e4 as Hamlet were even better. (Esko Salminen\u2019s ghostly presence as Hamlet\u2019s father\u2019s ghost is also brilliant.)<\/p>\n
To conclude, you would love to see the way they have done \u201cTo be or not to be\u201d \u2026 <\/p>\n
Text by Joel Kuortti
\nPhoto by Otto-Ville V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen\/Turku City Theatre<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department paid a visit to see Hamlet in the Turku City Theatre in March 2019. The production has garnered good reviews both by critics and audiences, and it was great to have an opportunity to see it, especially as … Continue reading