HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show), the Bad-ass edition, intertwined and melded into the Gaming world, where Shakespeare’s classic play is played out in role play. Written by Simon Peacock
“One man. One mission. Get thine revenge.” Or so the blurb goes.
Gaming innuendos are sign posted throughout with a bell sound and nod to the audience in on its in jokes, Hamlet is hammed up for the laughs. The set is basic, the back wall is a large video screen, keeping score, energy capsules, player lives, and encapsulates Hamlet’s ghost. It’s an interactive video game world that comes alive onstage as told through the characters during Hamlet’s story.
Created by the voice director of Assassin’s Creed, Hamlet is an incredible, genre-twisting blend of video games and Shakespeare.
Who knew Hamlet was good with a gun and even better with the ladies? Who knew Gertrude was so… kick ass? The audience calls the shots in this partly improvised show that will appeal to gamers and Shakespeare fans alike.
There are plenty of laughs to be had, in this enjoyable reimagining on the classic Bard’s tale – think Shakespeare for the new young generation. It’s brought to life with gusto and bravado, by a cast of three, plus one extra, the MC musician, accompanying the proceedings.
Shakespeare can always be a tricky one to tackle, lending an ear to its poetry lyrical prose, can lose ones understanding of what is happening. In this version, we have the heavily abridged version. What could be a four-hour play, gets tuned down with all the best bits compressed into a video game, it’s a show where things can have crazy twists and turns.
It’s a video game battle away through the moral corrupt world of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, but we can have a fun ride along the way. It’s a clever inventive take, on a Shakespearean classic, life is a game after all… isn’t it?
