Shakespeare’s Hamlet - Cinematography and Contemporary Dance Combined
A TRULY COLLABORATIVE SHAKESPEARE PROJECT
With sponsorship from the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, and participation from multiple cultural and arts organizations, Shakespeare’s Hamlet has come alive in film and dance in Portugal.
In addition, a partnership between Já International Theatre, The Évora Contemporary Dance Company (CDCE) and Theatre in Palm, with the support of Centro Artes Marvila and the Évora City Council, an international cast and crew, and with Atmosphera Production’s lead cinematographer this tragic story is being screened all over the country in theaters and arts centers.
A MODERN MIXED MEDIA APPROACH TO AN OLD CLASSIC
Hamlet: Out of Joint is not a film, and it’s not a dance piece. It’s a blending of both these visual arts as a contemporary dancer portrays Hamlet - writhing, snaking and pounding the stage floor in pain, anger and misery - while the filmed content is projected onto two large screens on stage. Actors from Portugal, the UK, and Brazil fill the screens in black and white delivering the well-known verse to the audience. Meanwhile, the dancer reacts in real-time to the tragedy happening on the screens.
For his part, Atmosphera Productions cinematographer Michael Hammond says “what the audience will be seeing (in these filmed scenes) are Hamlet’s memories. And because they’re memories, the director wanted them to be a little surreal and menacing. As much as possible, I kept the backgrounds dark and, more importantly, without form for the eye to grab onto. We wanted to add to the mystery and not have distractions in the background.”
There’s not a lot of camera movement because “the camera is an observer in this film rather than an active participant. The audience should be face-to-face with exactly what Hamlet sees in his mind. We even break the fourth wall several times to draw the audience in.”
This is not a traditional widescreen project. Because there needs to be tension, “the aspect ratio needed to be tight too. The director chose to film in 4:3. For most of the scenes, this meant there wasn’t a lot of room for the characters to ‘breathe’ or move. We wanted the audience to feel that claustrophobia too.“
WHERE IT IS AND WHERE IT WILL BE
Hamlet: Out of Joint is currently screening across Portugal - from small towns to cities like Porto and Lisbon - with its final showing taking place in Belém in the coming weeks. Creator and chief choreographer Nélia Pinheiro is investigating the possibility of taking the production to an international audience which would include the US, Europe and Brazil.