Tragic Shakespeare tale at Fort La Tour explores queer love, femininity
Loyalist City Shakespeare’s Hamlet production runs until July 27
On the Saint John harbourfront, a gruesome and tragic tale unfolds as the sun sets and the fog rolls in.
And while some might expect to see the typical melancholic prince as Shakespeare's Hamlet, this show is a bit different.
Instead the lead character is played by, and portrayed as, a woman.
"I'm not too worried about it being historically specific. That's not my aim. My aim is for it to speak to people now," said director and University of New Brunswick literature and drama professor Sandra Bell.
And while she said having a Hamlet played by a woman isn't a new concept, the idea of portraying the character as a woman really only came to be in the 20th century, said Bell.
The Loyalist City Shakespeare show, which runs until July 27 at Place Fort La Tour on the Saint John Harbour, is the second Shakespeare production hosted at the fort, both of which have been directed by Bell. Last year's production of Macbeth raked in support, with a complete run of sold out shows, she said.
And this isn't the first time Bell directed a production of Hamlet. Around 10 years ago, she put on a production set in 1917 with the traditional male Hamlet. Bell said setting the play during the First World War lended itself to the state of anxiety and warfare that Hamlet feels.
But her newest production is set in Shakespearean times still, instead using the female title character to explore the traditionally masculine and feminine ideals already established in the show.
"There were traditions of Hamlet being performed as more feminine, less likely to act in a violent way," said Bell. "The melancholy of Hamlet lends itself to being seen as more feminine. Melancholy in Shakespeare's time was actually gendered feminine."
Emily Bartlett, the actress portraying Hamlet, agreed, saying that some things became easier as a female character.
For example, with male Hamlet portrayals, she said the audience often gets quite frustrated with the title character's hesitancy and doubt.
"But for some reason, with a woman, not wanting to go kill someone right away, we give more forgiveness and grace," she said.
Along with the feminine themes in the play, Hamlet's love interest, Ophelia, remains a woman, and characters Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Ophelia's now-mother Polonius have been made female, too.
To thine own self be true
Bartlett said that when the love letters come out in the show, another layer is added to the revelation — something that the cast and crew discussed.
"It's not just a betrayal of love — it's also an outing, a public declaration of something that was private that maybe not everyone is ready to have divulged," said Bartlett.
Bell said that this adds more tension and unease in the characters, and even provides more reason as to why the king and Polonius might want to spy on Hamlet and Ophelia.
And while Bell said queer relationships are less taboo than they would have been in Shakespeare's times, she said a lot of the famous authors' work actually read with themes of same-sex love, so she said the relationship works very naturally when changing Hamlet to a woman.
As well, despite the loving nature of the relationship, she said there are still characters who are hesitant or suspicious of it.
"The play does actually, you know, open itself up to the ways that queer relationships are seen today."
Bell said that in the first part of Hamlet's run so far, she has talked to audience members who are fans of Shakespeare, and some who have never seen a Shakespeare play before, both sides expressing excitement about the story and production itself.
"Shakespeare might be 400 years old, but it's still English — it still speaks to us."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
