Depicting Collective Support on the Theatrical Stage: The Case of We Are Hamlet

Hanna Veselovska

doi:10.18778/2083-8530.31.14

Authors

Hanna Veselovska Modern Art Research Institute, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4898-5000

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.31.14

Keywords:

atomised chorus, role dispersion, ‘collective’ Hamlet, the Russia-Ukraine war

Abstract

The article describes a unique theatre project recently implemented by an international team of directors, actors, and stage designers representing the Bremer Shakespeare Company, the Prague Shakespeare Company and the Ukrainian Vasyl’ko Theatre in Odesa. The project’s product is a production titled We Are Hamlet that was performed in several European cities in 2023. Directed by Guy Roberts, We Are Hamlet examines, through the text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, what defines and makes possible the existence of human beings, despite their social, political, economic, educational, and even ecological differences. The discussed performance can be considered a conceptual statement, one made with the help of traditional artistic means but conveying meanings that acquire particular significance today. The production is analysed with recourse to the impact of media-broadcast images of the collective international support for Ukraine as a victim of the Russian aggression. The article looks into the artistic process itself, focusing on how the very idea of collective support is realised on stage through the so-called chorus atomisation.

Author Biography

Hanna Veselovska, Modern Art Research Institute, Ukraine

Hanna Veselovska is the Head of the Department of the Modern Art Research Institute (National Academy of Arts of Ukraine). Her research and publication interests include modern theatre theory and Ukrainian theatrical avant-garde. She also teaches and writes extensively on the history and present-day of the Ukrainian theatre. Among her recent books (all in Ukrainian) are The Twelve Productions by Les’ Kurbas (2005), The Theatrical Intersections in Kyiv: 1900–1910s. Kyiv’s Theatrical Modernism (2006), Ukrainian Theatrical Avant-garde (2010), Modern Theatrical Arts (2014), Maria Zankovetska National Academy Ukrainian Drama Theatre. Time and Fates (1917–1944). Part 1 (2016), Theatre of Mykola Sadovskyj (1907–1920) (2018), and More than a Theatre: Ivan Franko National Theatre (2001–2012) (2019).

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