Director and Choreographer: Dada Masilo
Tumelo Lekana, representing Hamlet, shouts a selection of famous soliloquies, ripped out of context and delivered with an astounding lack of nuance. The entire court of Denmark quaffs out of goblets full of poison, and their corpses strew the stage in a manner more reminiscent of Jonestown than Elsinore, and notably failing to include the dancer presenting Gertrude, the most flamboyantly noticeable character, danced by Llewelyn Mnguni in a magnificent golden gown. Gertrude apparently escapes the carnage.
Does any of this matter? The late South African choreographer, Dada Masilo, has chosen to piggyback her choreography on a very famous play, and her interpretation adds nothing at all to any understanding of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. She could have used Romeo and Juliet as her template just as easily, and the joyous ensemble dances that are the visual highlight of her choreography would have found a happier home. The only jolly party in Elsinore is a major source of anguish for Hamlet, which might detract from joy.
There is a mildly engaging game, trying to identify which bit of the play is being presented and who the lads in tight stripy trousers are – sometimes Laertes, sometimes Polonius, sometimes random guards, it is very hard to tell.
The description on the website calls this dramatisation by the Dance Factory a view of the events through the eyes of Ophelia (Lehlohonolo Madise), brutalised by father, brother, and boyfriend. Lehlohonolo Madise does indeed undergo a lot of physical abuse – Hamlet drags her forcibly towards the nunnery he wants her to live in – but the perpetrators of her distress are not easily identifiable, and she becomes a woman having a pretty bad time from an assortment of random men. That Ophelia’s relationship with her brother and her father in the play is notably affectionate doesn’t seem to figure in this analysis.
This is a very uninformative production of Hamlet. It is, however, a striking and energetic dance piece. The individual dancers are lively, dynamic, throw interesting shapes, perform skirt-swirling ensemble dances that bring smiles to a jaded face. Tumelo Lekana dances much better than he acts, which is fair enough; he’s a dancer, not an actor.
This is a highly problematic reading of a very famous play. It is also a splendidly visual, very energetic, sometimes moving dance. Take the Hamlet out of the equation, and it’s very watchable.
Runs until 26 May 2026
