Ben Duke — The last Hamlet
About the event
With The Last Hamlet, Ben Duke imagines staging the final performance of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Renowned for his distinctive style, which blends dance, theatre and humour, and for his bold, unexpected reworkings of classic texts, the British choreographer and director questions the model of masculinity embodied by the Prince of Denmark. Is it time to make room for new stories? Has this cultural and historical touchstone reached the end of its relevance?
When he discovers that his story is about to be “deleted,” Hamlet takes to the stage one last time. He arrives armed with a new speech, fresh material and compelling arguments in a final attempt to persuade the audience to grant him one last chance.
The result is an ironic, provocative and iconoclastic performance, full of paradoxes, blending stand-up comedy, live performance and references to The Lion King. Together with his company Lost Dog, Duke explores which stories continue to be told, who gets to tell them, and how they can be continually rewritten, challenged and reinvented.
