HAMLET

About the show

This production of Hamlet, directed by Janet Suzman, played at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the RSC's Complete Works Festival in 2006. Johannesburg-born Suzman directed the play for Baxter Theatre Centre in South Africa before the company toured to England for the Festival. The 'colour-blind casting' was a reflection of the multi-ethnic population of South Africa and with a cast of only 12, most of the parts were doubled (or tripled). The whole world of Elsinore was a prison for Hamlet, who work the shorts and shirt of a South African prisoner. The minimal set - more from logistical and financial constraints than choice - plus actors fresh to Shakespeare's writing, allowed Suzman to tell the story in an African context with clarity.