While most people know something of Shakespeare’s world famous tragedy, few people have had the unique pleasure of experiencing Hamlet without words. Originally created for the Stuttgart Ballet in 2008, and choreographed by Kevin O’Day, Hamlet is currently making its North American premiere in Toronto with the National Ballet of Canada, under the artistic direction of Karen Kain. With three rotating casts, a large-scale set, and complex choreography, Hamlet is ambitious to say the least.
The performance begins with Hamlet, played by Piotr Sanczyk, sitting in a pool of white light in the corner of the stage hugging his knees. Swarthy, shadowy, and tormented, Hamlet is already slapping at his limbs, arching backwards, exposing his neck and then recoiling miserably. The first in a series of silent yet expressive soliloquies, the audience is immediately led into Hamlet’s inner world of self-absorption and anguish.
Saddled with the task of re-telling Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, O’Day’s contemporary-balletic choreography is clear and highly stylized. Hamlet, the story of a young man, who, after much deliberation, seeks to avenge his father’s death by killing his uncle, is by nature a dark affair. O’Day’s style is geometric and cerebral. To reflect their shifting emotional states and allegiances, each character has their own stylized physicality. Stanczyk’s Hamlet is intense and brooding. He languishes; and his movements alter between slow folds, his body collapsing into itself, and violent bursts of frenetic energy.
Highly symbolic, Tatyana van Walsum’s stark modernist set and costume design reflect the moody intensity of the play, punctuated by John King’s original score. The set is sparse, yet imposing, an ultra modern courtyard with an upper tier, which creates the feeling that those below are always being watched. At times they are, as squares of light reveal shadowed silhouettes through intricate latticework. Even these strong visual effects are second to King’s menacing score. At times jazzy and brassy, highly percussive and erratic, the music is filled with dissonant fragments of sound, highlighting Hamlet’s perturbed mental state.
Hamlet and Ophelia’s first meeting in the courtyard is a key moment. Time slows to a halt. The dancers move in slow motion and we become trapped in the recesses of Hamlet’s spinning mind. Everything is viscous, seemingly covered in honey. O’Day with the aid of King’s score effectively captures the mood. The dancers eerily float in and out of the darkness through hidden doors.
Later, driven to madness by Hamlet’s rebukes, dressed in a ragged dress Ophelia staggers and collapses, arching and sinking to the floor. The central staircase transforms into the river in which she slowly drowns herself. Signing softly, dangling bare legs outstretched, her flailing, lifeless body finally slumps to the bottom of the stairs, in this visually stunning and emotionally captivating solo. Sonia Rodriguez gives a compelling and nuanced performance, perfectly capturing Ophelia’s decent into madness and grief.
Now and then, O’Day gets bogged down by conventional story-telling and the scenes become overly theatrical and could be easily mistaken for Shakespeare’s play.
Performing the role of Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, corps de ballet member Lise-Marie Jourdain, gives the evening’s stand out performance. Her duets with Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, are proud and parading, unabashed and grotesque. She leaps unto him with flexed feet, lythe and fanatic. She is sensual and fiery as she thrusts herself into his arms and wraps her legs voraciously around his waist. In her final duet with Hamlet she is repentant and desperate, yet still powerful and manipulative. Ripe with sexual tension, fear, and violence the two roll over each other in a gripping battle of wits.
Hamlet features excellent lead performances by The National Ballet, visually stunning sets, and a carefully crafted choreographic structure, however, there are times when the performance seems to lack in emotional connectivity. King’s score is so powerful there are moments when it overpowers O’Day’s meticulous movements creating a jarring effect. Though O’Day’s Hamlet may have less of an emotional impact, he is steadfast in his approach and his vision brims with choreographic clarity and precision.
Hamlet
June 1-10
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
145 Queen St. West
For tickets call: 416 345-9595
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