hamletzar Experiment

Structured Spontaneity

January 11 - 17, 2010, at the Laboratory / Entré Scenen, Aarhus.

HamletZar is an international performance project focusing on research and exchange. It began in Edinburgh in 2008 and will conclude in 2011 with the performance premiere in March followed by a tour of Europe and the Middle East. Alongside the performance itself, HamletZar is preparing a documentary film, an album of original music, a book on research and performance techniques and two seminars.

As the title suggests, HamletZar is a fusion of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Zar ceremony. Zar is a Middle Eastern ceremony whose function is to pacify malevolent spirits (believed to be harbouring in the bodies of the sick) through music, chanting and movement. The production of HamletZar takes place on the ship in which Hamlet returns, having hoist Rosancrantz and Guildernstern by their own petard, to Denmark. In this version of the tale, the ship is not filled with pirates, but rather with immigrants, and the two stories – Hamlet’s own and that of the stowaways – emerge through this encounter. The immigrants try to appease the spirits raging in Hamlet by performing a Zar ceremony on the dispossessed Prince; what follows is an exploration of his affliction and ills, of a condition which is – ultimately – a mirror of their own.

From 2009 to 2011 HamletZar and its international partners will be hosting a series of residencies in locations around the world (Denmark, Canada, Lebanon, Greece, Egypt and the UK among others) which will bring together artists with varied skills and backgrounds. The residencies are cultural events devoted to exploring the techniques and practices of performance as well as the issues at the heart of the HamletZar project – immigration and citizenship and their relation to personal and political identity. Over the course of the residencies, specialized theatre practitioners will be invited to give masterclasses to the participants. There will also be intensive Field Work carried out to investigate the experiences of people directly affected by immigration – not only immigrants and refugees, but also social workers, politicians, policemen and home office officials. In the HamletZar Project, performer training, professional exchange and open dialogue are tools of art – and instruments of change.

Artistic Director: Vahid
Producer: Lene Bang
The Laboratory's consultant: Barbara Simonson
Performers: Dafne Louzioti, Julia Giertz, Steven Loader
Playwrights/authors: Debbie Kent, Sue Balint
Guest director: Soheil Parsa
Video and photo: Stifani Brothers
Production manager: Maya Foa
Fundraiser: Mette Bjærge
Production: Goossun Art-illery and Laboratoriet ved Entré Scenen

More information: www.goossun.com/hamletzar
”Structured Spontaneity” is supported by Statens Kunstråd, Region Midtjylland and Kulturudviklingspuljen (Århus Kommune).