THE CONCEPT

These handwritten notes were taken during the first brainstorming session between Janet Sonenberg and Alex Chisholm. In them, we can see how they understood the play then, and how the deconstruction of Shakespeare's Hamlet was initially conceived.

THE SCRIPT

• Opening Scene: The Dumbshow text
  
  HamletS opens with the pre-history of the original play, which is told in scattered pieces by Shakespeare. Conceived as a shadow-theatre, the audience learns of the events that have lead to the initial situation very quickly and effectively.There are no words, just Evan Ziporin's score marking the rhythm of the events.
  
• The Nunnery Scene text
  
  This scene shows how the deconstruction can take place in the performance rather than in the manipulation of the text. The dialogue only leaves out a few lines from the original, the twist is having 5 Hamlets storming on Ophelia, while she is being used as a tool, a pupper, by Claudius and Polonius. The metaphor becomes visual, so that the manipulation is conspicuous, as well as how Ophelia breaks down when her father and the king do not need her any more. You can also compare it with Shakespeare's original text here.