Company: Bell Shakespeare
Venue: Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre Centre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Year the project commenced: 2018
Year it became impossible: 2020
Audience not reached: 18,000>30,000
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![Certain circumstances make things impossible even after they have been achieved, and even when they receive acclaim. This was the case for Bell Shakespeare’s HAMLET. Set in 1960s Denmark and staring Harriet Gordon-Anderson the production had opened at the Sydney Opera House and had three months of performances planned. Then, on March 17 2020 (less than 2 weeks after opening night) The Sydney Opera House closed its venues to comply with government social distancing regulations. As the days and weeks passed, the doors of the other planned venues (The Canberra Theatre Centre and The Arts Centre Melbourne) also closed. With venues of 500+ capacity continuing to be deemed unsafe and remaining closed for months it eventually became clear that rather than ‘pausing' or 'postponing' the season for a few months, Hamlet needed to be cancelled for the rest of the year, if not longer.](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/e981fef9-e63c-4278-b315-86b885eff9e2/892e4c0c-f97f-4d79-933d-998a0dc40bd1_rw_1200.png?h=7ac2dde3342db62400c7933f0920d510)
![“The production has been designed with those 3 venues in mind, and our exquisite set (fitted with large set-pieces, a dozen or so snow machines, and AV projections) was not particularly nomadic nor transposable to more COVID-friendly settings like an outdoor theatre. We hope and plan to open the show again in February 2021, exactly as it was. This is reliant on theatre venue possibilities and audience capacity regulations etc. So yes - we very much hope it will rise again! “ Harriet Gordon-Anderson, 2020.](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/e981fef9-e63c-4278-b315-86b885eff9e2/2bd42820-24dd-4eb9-8704-64d9ae247c84_rw_1200.png?h=433da55043bba5ae73caf092ab5e696c)
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Director - Peter Evans
Designer - Anna Tregloan
Lighting Designer - Ben Cisterne
Sound Designer & Composer - Max Lyandvert
Video Designer - Laura Turner
Voice Coach - Jess Chambers
Movement Director - Nigel Poulton
Dramaturg - James Evans
Assitant Director - AD - Abbie-Lee Lewis
SM - Danielle Ironside
ASM - Ruth Hollows
Cast - Jeremi Campese,
Tony Cogin,
Jack Crumlin,
James Evans
James Lugton,
Jane Mahady,
Lisa McCune,
Robert Menzies,
Aanisa Vylet,
Sophie Wilde
Photography by Brett Broadmann
UPDATE as of November 2020:
Hamlet will return to stages in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra in 2021. Visit the Bell Shakespeare website for more info.