Hamlet

More than four thousand five hundred people watched the first season of Hamlet at the end of 2012. The most recent national version of the eternal tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, achieved great repercussion among critics and the public thanks to the translation by the national prize for Literature, Raúl Zurita, and the adaptation and direction by the national prize for Performing Arts, Gustavo Meza. “It has always been contemporary, even more so in times of change,” warns the latter about the relevance that the GAM co-production that returns to theaters this month gains in Chile today.

To give life to this classic praised for its freshness, speed and absence of pomposity, Meza added to the closeness of Zurita's text - which recovers the spirit with which it was created - a prologue and an epilogue by the Spanish poet León Felipe, the music of Juan Cristóbal Meza (soundtrack of Prófugos) who updated the original themes, adapting them to current reality, and the atmosphere of the designer Ramón López.

“The idea is to create a cage that keeps them trapped, but it is not a literal prison, there are no bars but rather the feeling of confinement,” López describes about the scenery that seeks to represent a suffocating, uncomfortable environment, following the premise “Denmark is a prison” that was given to him to work on. “In this involuntary confinement, no one is covered, at any moment they stab you in the back,” he emphasizes.

Focusing on pace, action, and “not trying to help Shakespeare,” this Hamlet is a tale of power and corruption revealed by the hunger for justice through theater. "It is the greatest tribute that has been paid to him because it shows him as a universal weapon. In the world everything is an image. He who risks not having a mask will pay with his life," concludes the director, referring to Hamlet (Jorge Becker), Ofelia (Catalina Silva) and Horacio (Franco Meersohn).

The cast also features the performances of Elsa Poblete (Queen Gertrude), Óscar Hernández (Polonio), Álvaro Muñoz (King Claudio and ghost of King Hamlet), Eyal Meyer (Laertes), Óscar Zimmermann (gravedigger), Cristian Espejo (Gildenstern) and Ignacio Hurtado (Rosencrantz).