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Making her directorial debut, theater actor Ana
Abad Santos-Bitong has created a bold new version of Hamlet that
strips all the frills normally associated with a typical Shakespeare
production—the flowery costumes, the lavish sets, the British
accents—leaving nothing but the raw, brutal story of murder and
love and treachery and revenge that is Shakespeare’s most famous
work.
A land ravaged by war. A kingdom struggling to
survive. A desperate ghost. A murderous king. An incestuous queen.
And a tormented prince, hungry for revenge. These are the plots and
characters of Repertory Philippines’ newest stage production that
the lady director will try to reinvent. “The story is shocking.
The scenes are violent. There is always shock value and to
Shakespeare fans, this is something new and something to look
forward to,” muses Bitong.
This almost futuristic Hamlet is set in a land
that has also been stripped to its core: a post-apocalyptic
wasteland populated by a brutal race of warriors. “I wanted it to
look like outer-worldly and yet still look familiar,” adds Bitong.
“My idea was that it could be, might be, our own world, perhaps
sometime in the coming years.”
To help bring this harsh realm to life, she
enlisted the edgiest young artists she could find: original score
composer Jethro Joaquin; stage combat choreographer Paul Morales;
costume designer Faust Peneyra; lighting designer Martin Esteva; set
designer Denis Lagdameo (who also designed the production’s
horrifically original weapons), and photographer Jojit Lorenzo.
“The team was all excited about the
concept,” muses Bitong. “Something more primal, more visceral.
In short: a stripped-down Hamlet.”
She is quick to clarify, “Definitely, it’s
still Hamlet. We’ve stripped the play down to its basic plot, but
it’s the same story, the same characters, the same lines.”
Bitong, who trained at the prestigious London
Academy of Dramatic Arts, feels strongly about keeping the essence
of Shakespeare. So why change anything at all? “If you show
something familiar in an unfamiliar way,” she explains, “people
pay attention.”
Leading the cast is Niccolo Manahan, Joel
Trinidad as Claudius; Frances Makil–Ignacio as Gertrude; Bodjie
Pascua as Polonius; and retired teenage pop singer Cris Villonco as
Ophelia. Completing the cast are Randy Villarama; Jerald Napoles;
Jamie Wilson; Felix Rivera; Pom Docena and Red Concepcion; and Jejie
Esguerra, Francis Matheu and Hans Eckstein.
Hamlet runs until February 7 at Onstage in
Greenbelt 1. Call 887-0710 or 891-9999 for tickets.
-- Sarah Baviera
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