Nicholas Laughlin's blog etc.

From the SHAKSPER discussion list this morning:

I went to see a Hamlet production in Prague, in the Czech Republic, while on a holiday there, and it was only after I settled into my seat that I saw the words Hamlet daz muzikal (or something similar — I don't speak Czech) on the tickets. To my great amusement Hamlet! The Musical! was exactly what it was, and a very long running success there apparently — it has been running at the Divadlo Kalich for well over a year. I enjoyed the show so much that I went to see it a second time and happily purchased the CD afterwards. Not to all tastes, I'm sure — especially since the Czech equivalent of "To be or not to be" was saved as the great finale, sung while Hamlet was dying and presumably didn't have a great deal of choice. On both nights the audience applause was so heavily milked that our arms ached, as the actors went through a huge routine of bowing over and over again. Nevertheless I would recommend it to people who enjoy odd adaptations of Shakespeare, and like to see something a little bit fresh. More conservative Shakespeareans, however, should definitely stay away.

Thomas Larque

How do we convince Baz Luhrman to do the movie version?