Hamlet Sou Eu

How can we tell children about classics of literature and drama? Teatro Praga answers that question with Hamlet Sou Eu [I Am Hamlet], a show-game with a simple rule: now I summarise it, then you summarise it, now you all tell it. Two actors do their version of Shakespeare’s play, telling the Prince of Denmark’s story in different ways. In one of them, on top of a table, there is a briefcase from which objects jump out and transform into the play’s characters: Hamlet is an apple, Gertrude a pack of dental floss, Claudius a jar of moisturising cream and Ophelia an effervescent tablet. After becoming familiar with the plot, the children are invited to step onto the stage and present their version of it. During a process of collective ad-libbing that comprises inflatable castles, balloons, streamers, props, confetti, wigs and toy swords, each small group has in each day the opportunity to create their own show, their own Hamlet: To dance or not to dance… that is not the question…