Award-winning South African choreographer Dada Masilo, renowned for her dynamic reinterpretation of classics, including Swan Lake, Giselle and The Rite of Spring (retitled The Sacrifice), has reimagined Shakespeare’s power play as an hour-long dance theatre piece with music composed by Thuthuka Sibisi, Ann Masina, Leroy Mapholo and Mpho Mothiba. The cast led by Llewellyn Mnguni as Gertrude includes performers from the original version and dancers by kind permission of both Joburg Ballet and Moving Into Dance.

Within the play, Masilo identified themes that will bring clarity to the audience and drive the action. Amongst the themes are: ‘things are not what they seem’, ‘people say what they do not mean’ and betrayal: old Hamlet by his brother; Ophelia by Hamlet; Gertrude, of her husband’s memory; Hamlet by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius.

Masilo invariably employed androgyny and gender fluidity in her works. In Shakespeare’s time, men and boys played women’s roles, but here, some women will also play men’ roles. Masilo’s task as choreographer was to transform Shakespeare’s wordiest play into a contemporary and universally understood piece of theatre, utilizing dance, music and text. In Shakespeare’s play, much of the context is known in retrospect through soliloquys and conversations. In this work, the context and relationships will be made clear early on, eliminating the need for so many, many words!

On initial reading of the text, Masilo found much of it very amusing: the spying and intrigue, the chaos.

She also intended on creating a work of elegance with regards to costumes and movement, looking at how royalty and retinue would bear themselves within a court situation. Her Hamlet is set in urban South Africa.

The music will be acoustic. A nod to the music of Shakespeare’s time, whilst echoing the time and place of creation.