Left Bank Theater (Kyiv, Ukraine) premiered a new performance 'Ha*l*t' directed by Tamara Trunova at the Radar OST Festival 2023 in cooperation with Deutsches Theater (Berlin, Germany).
'Ha*l*t' is a performance that arose in the summer of 2022. Before that, the director and 16 actors and actresses started rehearsing the play 'Hamlet', and the premiere was scheduled for April. Rehearsals were stopped by the war and after almost a year-long pause, 'Ha*l*t' was created.
During the pre-production period Tamara Trunova, Marina Smilianets and six actors of the play were documenting their own optics and feeling of this period, giving the audience a very insider look at the people of art in the state of war.
The performance begins as a discussion with the audience after an imaginary performance. As if in an attempt to deny reality, we find ourselves in a world where war is not raging, and the actors played their 'Hamlet' in Kyiv quite normally. However, the reality is so harsh that it is possible to stay in a theatrical play only for a short time and even Shakespeare’s 'Hamlet' cannot resist it. 'Pretending' takes on a completely new, bitter meaning.
'Ha*l*t' is a reflection on losses and an attempt to talk about the performance that did not happen. 'Ha*l*t' is Hamlet, from which «me» was torn out as a person.
Now the performance continues its festival tour and is looking for further collaborations. Don't miss out!
Creative team:
Cast: Oleksandr Sokolov, Iryna Tkachenko, Maryna Klimova, Kateryna Kisten, Vitalii Salii, Oleh Stefan, Volodymyr Kravchuk
Dramaturges: Tamara Trunova, Marina Smilianets
Director, space solution: Tamara Trunova
Composer: Matthias Kremsreiter (Berlin, Germany)
Producers: Stas Zhyrkov, Kateryna Hradnova-Savytska
Co-Production of Left Bank Theater (Kyiv) and Deutsches Theater Berlin
Partner space: Hotel Continental (Berlin)
With special thanks to Birgit Lengers (Curator of Radar OST Festival) and Christine Dissmann (director of Hotel Continental).
