Hamlet Camp returns to Carriageworks for a reprise of its sell-out Sydney Festival shows last year, and like a good wine, it does not disappoint.
As they reflect on the role in a dystopian deprogramming centre (The Hamlet Camp), three of our finest actors, Brendan Cowell, Toby Schmitz and Ewen Leslie are in peak form again as three who have played Hamlet at various stages in their careers.
In 2008 Cowell played Hamlet in the Bell Shakespeare production, Schmitz in the 2010 La Boîte production and in 2011 Leslie preformed the role in a production at the MTC.
We know this is no ordinary approach to The Prince as at the start we are told to “Get thee to a funnerie”. Each actor introduces themselves with hilarious takes on their back stories and how they survived before they embarked on their acting careers.
With the script written by all three, much of the opening is told in poetry as we learn of Schmitz’s time in a second-hand bookstore, Cowell’s attachment to storage units and Leslie’s early auditions for the TV series Ship to Shore.
The actors, now on their way to full on ‘luvvie’ status, reflect on their early days in the theatre, walking a fine line with a few well-placed jokes, such as the one about fellow actor/director Jeremy Sims, as to not lose the audience, but also reflect on the fact that playing Hamlet comes with a used by date.
A “poetry in motion” dance from Claudia Haines-Cappeau, who is also line producer and appears as a gender flipped female Hamlet towards the end, signals the shift from the highly physical first act into the actors questioning the role of Hamlet in their lives.
Across the ninety-odd minutes all three actors display a fine sense of rapid-fire dialogue matched by displays of physical agility that shows just how match fit this cast is.
The bare thrust stage littered with multi-coloured non sensical ‘spikes’ is the perfect setting for this production, and the use of chairs as props in the final act is ingenious.
Original lighting from Jim Rawlings is kept to simple whites with spot highlights, while the music and sound design by Steve Francis also reflects an equal restraint.
In the post Hamlet years of their lives, as the role slips from their grasps, Cowell, Schmitz and Leslie realise just how intrinsically their lives are intertwined with that of the Prince and that, in the end, there is no hope for old Hamlets.
Hamlet Camp
Carriageworks (Bay 20), 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh (Sydney)
Performance: Sunday 11 January 2026
Season continues to 25 January 2025
Information and Bookings: www.carriageworks.com.au
Images: Toby Schmitz, Ewen Leslie and Brendan Cowell in Hamlet Camp – photo by Daniel Boud | Toby Schmitz, Brendan Cowell and Ewen Leslie in Hamlet Camp – photo by Daniel Boud
Review: John Moyle