For Tom Lanoye, Hamlet is an “in-between figure” in every sense. Hamlet is old enough and intelligent enough to see the power relations at the court, but he still has the purity to oppose them ahead of time on principle. He is driven by the heady Sturm und Drang of every young generation, but at the same time considers all the consequences of his deeds. He is horrified by what is happening around him, but for a while, his imagination keeps him going. The uncertainty that tears him apart degenerates into desperation and paralysis, however. Indignation, fear, recklessness, impotence, self-hate – all these feelings fight for the upper hand. Hamlet is melancholy and cynical at the same time – a double dose of prematurely old. Only his verbal energy continues to sparkle unabatedly, until that too finally wears down....
Hamlet vs Hamlet Lanoye and Cassiers show how a young generation (Hamlet, Ophelia, Laertes) does not succeed in creating an alternative for the corrupt world of their parents (Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius). Hamlet loses himself in his impotence and idolization of his dead father. Ophelia loses her way, tossed back and forth between the desires of her father, her brother and Hamlet. Laertes meets with disaster through his immensely destructive impetuosity.
Lanoye and Cassiers portray a society that is threatened by foreign enemies but is primarily brought down by paranoia, incestuous desire and moral implosion. The world of Elsinore, the castle where Hamlet lives, becomes a hall of mirrors with no exit, in which everybody turns against everybody else. And in which Hamlet mainly fights against his own apparitions. Hamlet vs Hamlet
‘Er zijn of niet?’
De acteurs van Toneelhuis en Toneelgroep Amsterdam verhuisden van Antwerpen naar Amsterdam voor de repetities van Hamlet vs Hamlet.
De oude koning is vermoord door zijn broer, Claudius. De geest van de dode koning roept zijn zoon Hamlet op tot wraak. Hamlet wordt verscheurd tussen zijn verlangen om de moordenaar te straffen en zijn liefde voor zijn overspelige moeder, die kort na de moord met Claudius hertrouwde. Zo begint de bekendste tragedie ter wereld.
Tom Lanoye zette Shakespeares Hamlet naar zijn hand in vijfvoetige jamben. Guy Cassiers regisseert deze bewerking met een negenkoppige cast, samengesteld uit de ensembles van Toneelhuis en Toneelgroep Amsterdam.
