Neuigkeiten

Die zwei Englischleistungskurse des Jahrgangs 13 besuchten im Januar gemeinsam die Hamlet-Aufführung im Lessingtheater in Wolfenbüttel.

Lea Borgholz berichtet  – passenderweise auf Englisch:

After reading, analysing and discussing the play in the two advanced English courses of year 13 we went to the Lessingtheater in Wolfenbüttel accompanied by our teachers Mrs. Ivers and Mrs. Knauer to see a German version of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy “Hamlet.”

The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare depicts young Prince Hamlet trying to take revenge on his father's murderer King Claudius – the victim’s brother and Prince Hamlet's uncle -, while contemplating life and death and, thus, drifting off to madness.

Before the start of the actual play we listened to the dramatic advisor explaining the changes that were made to the original plot. This modern adaptation was based on one of Hamlet’s famous quotes: “The time is out of joint; O cursèd spite! That ever I was born to set it right!” and included many modern references, for example the setting being a talkshow as well as a video-call in the first act.

The director wanted to focus on the interactions and relationships between Hamlet and his friends and family to emphasise the field of tension he is surrounded by, which is why some original characters like Polonius (father of Ophelia), or Marcellus and Bernardo (guards) were not included in this version.

Although the play was a modern adaptation, the producers kept most of the original text and language but left out some scenes, for the play to last two and a half hours instead of six.

In some students' opinion, it was shortened too drastically and some important scenes were missing. Others felt uncomfortable from time to time when scenes were portrayed differently from the original play.

”To me it was very sad that not every relevant scene was included. On top of that it was sometimes too sexualised, also the ending was disappointing.” (Sean Lampe)

Aleyna Celik has a similar opinion as she explains that even though she enjoyed the play some scenes were quite inappropriate.

Others, on the contrary, really enjoyed the modern adaptation:

”I personally liked the modernised version. At first I was sceptic about the idea of the talkshow, but it was implemented very well.” (Berenike Heinze)
“I liked the acting a lot, especially of Hamlet. Some parts were a bit strange but overall it was a great experience.“ (Patrick Trapp)

The costumes in particular offered an incentive to speculate as they varied from a modern suit worn by Hamlet to classic costumes for the king and queen, while a wall of many doors functioned as the scenery and was praised as a clever and functional idea by many students.

Overall, it was an enjoyable visit to the theatre that definitely led to interesting discussions in our class and allowed us to see Hamlet from a whole new perspective.