​Hamlet - A Contemporary Adaptation

Director and Co-Writer: Avi Gibson Bar-El | Writer and Co-Director: Yarden Gilboa

​In the play "Hamlet," Shakespeare seeks to present a man caught in a moral dilemma, of "to be or not to be." The contradictions that accompany Hamlet's character are the very essence of humanity; he contemplates and does not merely act.

In the current adaptation, we have removed the hesitation, and only the action remains.

We distilled the mythological play until the text became a vessel expressing a thirst for blood, murder, and revenge, exactly as Hamlet himself desires: "from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth."

As in the story of Hamlet, we too live in times where the regime sanctifies power and authority, times when the sanctity of revenge and the lust for murder serve as a compass directing action, times when masculinity is measured by the ability to conquer and destroy. And when the collective mindset desires only blood, "to be or not to be" is no longer the question.

The current adaptation weaves together original texts from the play "Hamlet" and excerpts from Machiavelli's book "The Prince," which serves in the Western world as a guide for accumulating political and governmental power by force rather than within the framework of the rule of law. This is the manual that accompanies Hamlet's initiation into the new world we have built.

Cast: Avi Gibson Bar-El, Eilon Farber, Yarden Gilboa

Lighting Design: Nadav Barnea | Set and Costume Design: Alona Rudnev | Music: Yan Kogan | Movement Consultant and Trailer Editing: Sahar Azimi | Assistant Director: Roni De-Picciotto | Dramaturgical Consulting: Itay Doron | Artistic Consulting: Amir Orian - The Room Theatre | The texts from the play Hamlet are based on the Hebrew translation by Dori Parnes.