THE HAMLET PROJECTby Amie Burns WAlker, keziAh serreAu,

sDnA AnD the ACCO theAter Centre in isrAel

THE HAMLET PROJECTDirector’s vision

Young hamlet has returned to a country full of tensions, dragged into politics and thrust into an impossible situation that he can’t escape from.

i believe you can read hamlet in many ways, as an historical play, a thriller, or a philosophical drama for example. each reading would be different but in essence, it would remain the same. the myth of hamlet has grown to exist beyond the play itself and has gained meaning even for those who have never read shakespeare.

hamlet is purely the story of four young people who are implicated in a bloody political and family drama. three of them will die, the fourth, by chance, will become king of Denmark. none of them choose the part they are to play, everything has been imposed upon them. hamlet is the drama of imposed situations!

Whether to take action…this question seems to haunt every young person we met in Akka. the questions and choices they face in a country full of tensions are not only existential but they are confronted with them on a daily basis. the relevance of hamlet in israel is undoubtedly present and we felt a real need for the younger generation to reflect on their reality and express themselves in response.

the hamlet project is about finding the echoes of this myth in their own contemporary lives, reaching for the contemporary experience of hamlet and giving voice to a new generation of young people.

keziah serreauDirector

THE HAMLET PROJECTcreative team

Amie Burns WAlker

having worked in india and Brazil, the hamlet Project was conceived in order to combine a love of international collaboration with the rich works of William shakespeare. since graduating from Drama school, Amie has worked in theatre, film and radio. her recent work includes The Tempest, Comedy Of Errors and Twelfth Night for the rsC. Lady Chatterley’s Lover for hull truck. Pericles, The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth for Bard in the Botanics. Fleur De Muerto for Gomito theatre Company. The Other Simeon for BBC radio Drama and The Return for Obstacle Films. this year Amie collaborated on OT playing Desdemona in a music video inspired by Othello with spoken word artist Charlie Dupre. she will also be returning to hull truck this December to perform in their Christmas show.

keziAh serreAu

keziah is a freelance director. she has directed shows for theatre, circus and opera in both France and england including as a co-director on The Dark Side of Love at the roudhouse in a liFt, rsC and roundhouse co-production for the World shakespeare Festival and as associate director to emma rice and kneehigh theatre (Wah!Wah!Girls ; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg).

trained as a director at rADA, keziah graduated in 2009 and was mentored by Peter Gill. she has worked for the royal Court theatre, the roundhouse, sadler’s Wells, theatre royal stratford east, soho theatre, theatre royal Bath, the Globe, Birmingham stage and the Curve leicester.

she is currently co-directing a show with liFt and street Child World Cup to premiere in June 2014 and a circus show, STRIKE! to premiere in April 2014.

THE HAMLET PROJECTcreative team

sdnA

sDnA is a creative studio based in london producing distinctive digital artwork.

Our objective is to explore techniques of interaction within public spaces, using emerging technologies and unusual presentation media. Our interdisciplinary approach, integrating site-responsive installation and live performance, aims to widen the scope of digital art.

established in 2004 by directors Ben Foot and Valentina Floris, sDnA continues to develop and present digital artwork and theatrical productions for festivals, fashion labels, museums, city councils, musicians and many more.

in the past eight years we have received many commissions for video design and multiple projection installations.

THE HAMLET PROJECTcreative team

the Acco theAtre centre

the Acco theatre Centre ‘s methodology includes international exchange and collaborating programs are forms of the theatres intercultural dialogue - A dialogue through art.

AtC has developed a theatrical language dealing with the interconnection between the personal and the social. At AtC, the actor’s life is the subject, the source, the library for creation. Actors at AtC work without text, and adapt their performances show by show through improvisation. this methodology is exciting and free from constraint which is exciting and a practice we would like to develop in our own work and in exchange we will develop the idea of making the audience the subject, empowering them to control how the show changes by making choices and decisions on what they want to see and how they want to see it.

AtC’s work often confronts the relationships between the personal and the public, the individual and the collective, the social and the political, dealing with issues from the private world we inhabit as individuals, to the sphere of close friends and family, to the larger family which is the neighbourhood, to society at large, to the nation, to the wider region, to the global realm, and even to the earth, the sky, the galaxies, and back to the individual spirit. the importance of this relationship is simple to understand, yet too rarely appreciated: each of us has a center all our own, yet we are at the same time all One.

PhizzicAl Productions

Phizzical produces unique experiences influenced by international cultures for the benefit of the public.

Phizzical’s vision is to entertain audiences with adventurous and thought provoking new touring work. the work we commission and produce is influenced by interna-tional cultures and seeks to address the challenges and possibilities of our time. We expand our creative potential through collaboration with exciting creative people in the uk and beyond.

We want to see young talent flourish through professional development and opportu-nities to showcase their creative practice. We create avenues to engage with hard to reach communities to develop a taste for cosmopolitan work that sparks imagination.

Phizzical continue to play an active role within the cultural sector. We maintain and develop our archive as a resource of national and international significance, in order to provide a lasting legacy.

Our objectives are:

sector development: Commission and produce quality cosmopolitan projects across a range of platforms for the benefit of the public

Workforce skills: Develop the skills and talent of young people in creative arts and heritage through professional development opportunities

market growth: increase and improve opportunities for culturally diverse communi-ties to engage with arts, festivals and heritage

Broadening audiences: to grow and inform audiences by presenting new and excel-lent cultural experiences that reflects the region’s demographic

organisation development: to consolidate the position of Phizzical Productions as an organisation that effectively develops culturally diverse arts, heritage and festivals in the region

THE HAMLET PROJECTcreative team

sAmir BhAmrA, Producer

samir Bhamra is the artistic director of Phizzical, the creative director of the london Asian Film Festival and the executive producer at serendipity producing the let’s Dance international Festival and other touring productions. recently, he shadowed Gregory Doran on The Orphan of Zhao at the royal shakespeare Company. he was the associate artist for the sky Arts film of King Lear. he was an artist in resident at Curve in 2006.

Bhamra completed a development programme at the national theatre where he focused on polishing his skills as an artist and as a producer working on projects that have an international remit. he was mentored by nelson Fernandez OBe and continued with a secondment with royal shakespeare Company working on World shakespeare Festival with Deborah shaw.

he has extensive experience in theatre/dance including having been commissioned by the British Film institute (bfi) to open the ImagineAsia film festival; a Creative executive for Club Asia radio working on Channel 4 Indian Summer concert at Regents Park, directed by Alex Poots; designed a Bollywood themed stage and provided choreography for Virgin mobiles at the mobile Choice Awards, choreographed for museum D’orsay in Paris; devised BollyIdol, a nationwide talent search with BBC radio leicester and B4u tV. he was one of the judges on the dance reality show Just Dance produced by star tV. Bhamra worked with the Creative Programmer (london 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, east midlands) as a project manager on the Cultural Olympiad programme in the east midlands. he sits on the boards of kadam and Cultural strategy Partnership to create a new cultural ambition for the city of leicester.

THE HAMLET PROJECTcreative team

size mid-small scale

Company 10 performers1 Csm 1 Dsm

running time 90 min, 20 min interval

Get in / Get Out One day get in, pre-rig requiredGet out within 2hrs of performance no get in/get out charges

Outreach • Education pack for schools• Middle Eastern themed cafe• Workshops with the choreographers and performers • In conversation events with the creative team• Longer residencies and participatory projects working with young people to explore the themes of the plays

Press and marketing Full marketing and media strategy containing:• High resolution marketing and production photos • Press release • Direct mail letters to audience and schools• Print media • Target audience groups

Digital media • Web site, E-flyer and social media adverts• Video • Viral adverts

Audience All audiences, including schools and academics, specific target groups.

Venue to provide Get in: 2 technicians (lighting and sound) 1 stage handProjection

THE HAMLET PROJECTtechnical requirements

THE HAMLET PROJECTreviews of artists’ previous work

the young performers are astonishing: volatile but never out of control, searingly passionate and yet always forensic.the GuArDiAn

...promenade shakespeare mash-up... performed with undeniable energy and talent.time Out

intensely performed, smartly staged... design, music, choreography, lighting and video all fuse together to sustain the spell.the times

immensely evocative... the performances are impressive and bravely intimate...FinAnCiAl times

simultaneously ethereal and edgy, traditional and modern... a feast of music, dance, projections and lighting.WhAts On stAGe

An emotive 45 minutes that reminds us how fragile our lives and loves are.A YOunGer theAtre

clever, beautiful and gross and definitely worth seeing.sPOOnFeD

Powerful stuff, strikingly performed.British theAtre GuiDe

Visceral, powerful and inventive.exeunt

MORE infORMATiOnPhizzicAlPhoenix square, 4 midland street, leicester, le1 1tGinfo@phizzical.com | www.phizzical.com