Review: Bogan Shakespeare’s Hamlet at State Theatre Centre of WA
Bogan Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Heath Ledger Theatre @ State Theatre Centre of WA
Friday, January 20, 2023
8.5/10
One of William Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, Hamlet is the story of grief-stricken young man who seeks to avenge his father’s death. His quest for vengeance, however, is disrupted by his own conscience, as he desperately seeks out evidence to justify his thirst for violence. Ultimately, the play ends in tragedy, as almost every character meets a grim demise. Hamlet asks its audience, “how far is a person willing to go for vengeance?” and “how much is a person willing to sacrifice in order to achieve that vengeance?” Bogan Shakespeare’s Hamlet does indeed deliver this same narrative, only it delivers it somewhat differently than Shakespeare had perhaps intended.
Dean Lovatt first presented Bogan Shakespeare to the world in 2016, with a rendition of Romeo and Juliet. At the time, Lovatt pitched the production as “What if William Shakespeare had set his work in a somewhat more ‘colloquial’ setting?” and that concept has certainly remained true all the way up to Lovatt and his team’s most recent production of Hamlet. The production opens with a parody of The Circle of Life from The Lion King, before introducing the audience to the town of Denmark, WA, where the owner of the local pub, The Crown, has just passed away under completely mundane, normal, circumstances. The late pub owner’s son, Hamlet (Harrison Mitchell), returns to town and begins to suspect his uncle Claudius (Dean Lovatt) to be responsible, but is unwilling to act on his suspicions until he is certain of his uncle’s crimes.
Hamlet also finds himself reuniting with his now spiritual mother, Gertrude (Jess Lally); his former lover, the relentlessly horny Ophelia (Maiken Kruger), and his high school friends, Rosencrantz (Lally) and Guildenstern (Sarah Courtis). The production is also narrated by Lovatt, as he dons a ruff collar and delivers both exposition and fourth wall-breaking commentary to the audience. The quick-witted and fast-paced humour is expertly delivered by the performers, but what is even more impressive than the comedy is the show’s ability to restrain itself at times, letting the heavier, more emotional moments of the play breathe without a joke callously disrupting the tension.
Back in 2021, the Bogan Shakespeare team managed to sell out their season of their production of Macbeth, despite the impact that the pandemic had on the Fringe Festival that year. As a result of that success, the team moved into The State Theatre’s Studio Underground space for their production of Julius Caesar as part of last year’s Fringe, which once again sold out. Dealing with this ever-growing demand once and for all, this year, the BS team has moved into the Heath Ledger, and along with such an impressive performance space, the quality of production has also increased. The set by Sam Knox, sound design by Megan Coles and lighting design by Scott McArdle all worked to enhance the show, but it is also in the design aspect of the show that the feeling of growing pains can be most felt.
It is hard not to wonder what is next for the Bogan Shakespeare team. The Regal? RAC Arena? Optus Stadium? What we do know for certain, is that the BS team is preparing to branch out beyond the works of The Bard, with the announcement of Bogan Literature, which will be coming to audiences later this year.
JACK BENGOUGH
