Hamlet | Madách Nemzetközi Színházi Találkozó

William Shakespeare, Ondrej Šoth, Zuzana Mistríková

Hamlet 14

National Theatre Košice, Slovakia

Director: Ondrej Šoth

Performed in Slovakian with Hungarian and English subtitles

1 hours 20 minutes, without breaks.

One of the most performed plays, Shakespeare's Hamlet is staged this time by the company of Košice Ballet as a modern dance theatre production. Hamlet has had few innovative dance adaptations, which makes this a project of outstanding importance. "Hamlet's text is about past correlations and relationships that are extremely hard to present in a ballet. For me, Hamlet is about betrayal, power struggles, the destruction of love, manipulation, and I think these are highly topical subjects for the society we live in today" says director Ondrej Šoth.

"The choreography is designed by Košice Ballet soloist Maksym Sklyar and Cuba's Nelson Reguera Perez. The performance was created as a collective project in which we did our best to inspire each other. I saw Nelson for the first time in Pal Frenák's company and invited him to Košice. Maksym Sklyar has worked as a choreographer in several productions in Košice, he is a talented, inventive and creative artist. That is how the creative team was set up," adds Šoth. Hamlet involves the entire company of Košice Ballet, and includes pre-recorded audio excerpts from Shakespeare's play performed by Tomáš Maštalír and Táňa Pauhofová of the Slovak National Theatre. The production features music composed mostly by Max Richter for the British film Testament of Youth, as well as compositions by Byron Metcalf, István Sky and Giorgio Maineria.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Screenplay: Ondrej Šoth, Zuzana Mistríková podľa Williama Shakespeara
Directed by and music dramaturgy: Ondrej Šoth
Choreography: Nelson Reguera Perez, Maksym Sklyar
Scenography: Juraj Fábry
Costumes: Simona Vachálková
Assistants choreography: Jana Kolesová-Hriadeľová, Eva Sklyarova
Inspector: Beáta Gogová, Lena Képesová

Hamlet, Danish prince: Gennaro Sorbino
Claudius, Danish king: Marek Šarišský
Gertrúda, Danish queen, Hamlet's mother: Tetiana Lubska
Horátio, Hamlet's friend: Dalibor Fabián
Polonius, chief royal adviser: Šimon Stariňák
Leartes, son of Polonius: Kostiantyn Brandler
Ophelia, daughter of Polonius: Vlada Shevchenko
Hamlet the brave, Hamlet's father, king: Martin Bányai
Osric, courtier: Igor Pashko

In other characters:

Suu Tanaka, Nina Ravasová, Silvia Borsetti, Kristína Zemanová, Klaudia Skopintsev,Františka Vargová, Alessandra Improta, Anne-Marie Greve Myhrvold

Viktor Mikulišin, Davide Covone, Mariano Covone, Ervin Szelepcsényi, Marcell Barnabás Medvecz, Lukáš Nastišin, Igor Pashko, Tomek Siedlecki

Peter Rolík, Sergii Iegorov

Davide Covone, Mariano Covone, Lukáš Nastišin, Marcell Barnabás Medvecz

Viktor Mikulišin, Tomek Siedlecki

Peter Rolík, Sergii Iegorov, Mariano Covone

Director

Ondrej Šoth

Main Stage

Ondrej Šoth

Ondrej Šoth choreographer, director, set designer and the director of the State Theatre Košice. From 1975 to 1979 he studied classical dance at the Conservatory in Košice, then obtained a Master of Arts degree in choreography at the High School of Fine Arts in Bratislava in 1983. In Prague he became a choreographer for the Chamber Ballet and later for the National Theatre. He returned to Slovakia in 1989, where he choreographed performances for the Slovak National Theatre and the Folk Art Ensemble.

Between 1990 and 1995 he was a teacher at the Bratislava High School of Fine Arts, the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Conservatory in Prague. And also taught in Krakow, Belgium, Paris, China, India and Japan. From 1994 to 1998, he was head of the ballet section of the Town Theatre of Ústí nad Labem in Czech Republic. In the second half of the 1990s he worked on dance projects in Munich, Salzburg, Hamburg, Toronto and Lisbon. From 2000 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2020, he was ballet director of the State Theatre Košice, the two periods beetween he was director of the Slovak National Theatre. Since 2020, he has been managing director of the State Theatre Košice.

He choreographed dozens of works, from classical ballet to opera and contemporary dance theatre. Collaborated with many well-known theatre directors, including Ľubomír Vajdiček, Roman Polák, Jozef Bednárik and Marián Chudovský. He also worked on films with Juraj Jakubiska and Peter Weigl, and worked in Hollywood.

For his outstanding work he received numerous awards in Slovakia and abroad. Among others, the World Ballet Stars Award, twice the DOSKY Theatre Award and the Crystal Wing Award.

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