{"id":112335,"date":"2026-09-24T05:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=112335"},"modified":"2026-09-29T06:10:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:10:21","slug":"the-last-hamlet-in-paris-at-theatre-de-la-ville-theatre-des-abbesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/the-last-hamlet-in-paris-at-theatre-de-la-ville-theatre-des-abbesses\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Hamlet in Paris at Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de la Ville-Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Abbesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review by: Jo Tomalin<\/span>
\nForAllEvents.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Inspired Innovative Original Hamlet!<\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Award-winning Lost Dog dance theatre company from the United Kingdom is led by director\/choreographer Ben Duke, who also performs in this production, together with two dancers Miguel Altanuga and Hannah Shepherd. This original play, loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet is produced and presented September 22 \u2013 30, 2026 by Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de la Ville-Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Abbesses, theatre in Paris, France, as part of Focus on Ben Duke, September\/October 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it true that Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet has been staged too many times? Ben Duke thinks not, and \u00a0from the point of view of an actor wanting to play Hamlet one more time, a radio interview drives an intriguing story forward. The radio interviewee we listen to is none other than the voice of a very well regarded British theatre director and all around creative. There\u2019s more we hear about this play, that it\u2019s misogynistic – the female characters are always portrayed in the same way and change is needed!<\/span><\/p>\n

Duke relishes the challenge to present his version of events in parallel with some from his own life, and starts the performance within a play. He loses no time catching us up with these events, speaking directly to the audience, which is an interesting and effective device. He and his company have experienced budget cuts, we learn and while he will play Hamlet, the other characters in the play will be played by stuffed animals. We are introduced to Gertrude, Hamlet\u2019s mother played by a giant goose stuffie, and Claudius, Hamlet\u2019s antagonist uncle and then stepfather, played by a large coiled plushy snake.\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This cast of three maneuver the other characters and the innovative set around the stage as well as create verbal and non verbal scenes from Hamlet\u2019s life including innovative dance and movement. The choreography which is a combination of duos and trios is especially notable for its earthy fluidity and original muscular acro motifs. It should be noted that the dance sections meld with other scenes extremely well, are always justified and add texture to the visual storytelling of the entire play. A seemingly simple yet imaginative transformative set by d\u00e9cor (and costume) designer Soutra Gilmour is a work of art with many boxes that contain never ending surprises in how they are used and what they contain. Ophelia is the key to this story – after the provoking interview at the start about misogyny – and the character portrayal in this play is a more forthright and assured Ophelia than we usually see her. An inventive inevitable scene of a river with Ophelia swimming is beautifully shown with projections and movement using the height of the set as a stage for actors to overlook the river below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Duke is fearless and creative in his concept of this play and performance as Hamlet (or himself) when gently integrating audience members into the action, projecting media and video with a certain amount of tight structure combined with moments of free form improv – while wearing an orange animal onesie! Duke\u2019s inspired mise-en-sc\u00e8ne and the sum of all these parts add up to an inspiring and fascinating show with surprises and lots of creativity. Don\u2019t miss it!<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

More Information<\/strong>
\nTh\u00e9\u00e2tre de la Ville-Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Abbesses:<\/span>
\nhttps:\/\/www.theatredelaville-paris.com\/en<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Lost Dog Dance:
\nhttps:\/\/www.lostdogdance.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review by: Jo Tomalin ForAllEvents.com Inspired Innovative Original Hamlet! Award-winning Lost Dog dance theatre company from the United Kingdom is led by director\/choreographer Ben Duke, who also performs in this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1017,130,1019,127,1016,126,1018],"class_list":["post-112335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-jo-tomalin","tag-ben-duke","tag-france","tag-lost-dog-dance","tag-paris","tag-the-last-hamlet","tag-theatre-de-la-ville","tag-theatre-des-abbesses"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"