Venue: Carriageworks (Eveleigh NSW), Jan 14 – 25, 2025
Playwrights: Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz
Cast: Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, with Claudia Haines-Cappeau
Images by Daniel Boud
Theatre review
Three actors are in a therapeutic facility, seeking help for their obsession with Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Each had previously embodied that role and for years after, find themselves unable to shake off that experience. Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie and Toby Schmitz too had performed Hamlet in previous years, so it is understandable that we may regard their collaborative work Hamlet Camp a semi-autobiographical account of their relationship with the Danish prince.
It may be a highly exaggerated iteration, but more than a few kernels of truth can be found in this confessional manifestation of these artists’ entanglements, with one of the Bard’s most beloved creations. Hamlet Camp deals with artistic conundrums, in particular the troubles associated with acting. We see characters unable to extricate themselves from a world infinitely more appealing than the realities we all have to tolerate, even if it is a literal Shakespearean tragedy that they find themselves trapped within. In their art, they can revel in a truth so immense, that everything else in daily life can only pale by comparison.
The show’s concerns may be insular, with observations too granular for most, but Hamlet Camp is nonetheless highly enjoyable, with Cowell, Leslie and Schmitz orchestrating theatrical chemistry that proves irresistibly amusing. They may not convince us to join in their infatuation, but watching them depict that manic and compulsive enthusiasm, in exquisite harmony and unison, is an unequivocal delight. Supported by lighting designer Jimi Rawlings and sound designer Steve Francis, who bring just enough embellishment to the presentation, Hamlet Camp demonstrates itself to be the kind of theatre about theatre, so full of passion that we can only respond with enchantment.
Suzy Goes See 