Escaping Hamlet

MUSICALS & OPERA THEATRE

ESCAPING HAMLET

E4 UDDERBELLY'S PASTURE (VENUE 300)

THE young guns are teaching the old(er) dogs new tricks this Fringe season as the Prince of Denmark falls privy to three very different interpretations, from the gallus spectacle of a rock musical to the brave efforts of a one-man play.

The story of Hamlet, who plots revenge on his uncle, the current king, for killing his father, the former king, has been adapted in various guises over the years but Hamlet Q Jones ... is truly inspired. Shakespeare for the nu-rave generation, the action is moved to the streets of Seattle and new life is breathed into one of the Bard's best-known texts.

The brainchild of American collective the HWS Rembiko Project, and arguably boasting the best young ensemble on this year's Fringe, this has been dubbed "Live Classic Rock meets Shakespeare meets CSI".

What should be sacrilege - Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit pounds from the speakers as Hamlet discovers his uncle's treachery; a version of Mariah Carey's Without You arrives as Ophelia (here a tutu-wearing Goth named Fifi) nears suicide - is total genius.

Elsewhere, the works of James Taylor, the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel all inject new life into the piece while, amazingly, never detracting from the foundations of the text.

Creator and assistant director Eric Schrode deserves a special mention, as does leading man Kurt Kanazawa, whose Hamlet Q veers from rock king to literary god, declaiming one minute the lyrics of the Stone Roses, the next some of Shakespeare's most memorable lines, all with a boundless energy and exhausting ease.

Across town, things are just as memorable. As Shakespeare's longest piece, boasting a little over 4,000 lines and close to 3,000 words, the Hamlet text is a powerhouse for any ensemble and was always going to be a feat for anyone brave enough to take the show on unaccompanied on a stark, empty stage.

To his credit, Raoul Bhaneja's everyman in Hamlet (solo) is presented surprisingly succinctly as Shakespeare's young hero struggles with two opposing forces: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father's murder.

But while Bhaneja roams from one character to the next with notable aplomb, changing accents and body language continually, the momentum is occasionally lost and Hamlet (solo) can at times feel like a reading as opposed to a performance, particularly in the more tender moments between Hamlet and Ophelia.

And so to Escaping Hamlet. There is much to admire about this lavish production, which finds itself in the heady netherland between the surreal world of dreams and a darkly macabre fairytale, as a hapless Hamlet prepares to run away and become an actor in Paris.

Acclaimed director Gianpiero Borgia and award-winning writer Natalia Capra undoubtedly deserve credit for originality and breadth of vision, setting the scene in a gin-addled state, where debauchery and games play centre stage.

But Escaping Hamlet more often than not fails to fully connect with the bigger themes of the play, with a nifty set, some awesome outfits and complex choreography at times detracting from the heart of the piece.

Hamlet Q Jones until 17 August. Today 8.25pm; Hamlet (solo) until 27 August. Today 11.15am; Escaping Hamlet until 26 August. Today 3.15pm