Enter Hamlet

About the Production

Enter Hamlet is a multimedia solo performance that reimagines Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a play of ghosts—those by whom the titular hero is surrounded and whom he both flees and pursues. The production explores Hamlet’s quest for peace and belonging through a fragmented, episodic structure, where the character revisits pivotal moments of his life in dialogue with his past. Moving through spaces such as a train, a deserted city square, and a ballroom, Hamlet encounters strangers who morph into family, friends, lovers, and rivals, reflecting his psychological turmoil.

The play delves into themes of familial betrayal, insatiable desire, self-sabotage, relentless introspection, and the refusal to let go. Hamlet’s shifting personas—victim, victimizer, intellectual visionary, or whimsical antihero—challenge traditional interpretations, blending existentialist philosophy with contemporary urgency. The production’s pseudo-Aristotelian ending underscores the cyclical nature of beginnings and endings.

Performed by a single actor, the production employs three screens to project key moments of Hamlet’s life and landscapes of his mind, creating an immersive world of memory and imagination. A vocalist accompanies the actor, using experimental improvisation to embody the voices, thoughts, and visions that haunt Hamlet, culminating in an intermedial catharsis.

Creative Team

• Written and Directed: Avra Sidiropoulou
• Set-Costume Design: Emmanouela Vogiatzaki-Krukowski
• Video Art: Artemis Tzavra-Bulloch
• Musical Composition: Vanias Apergis
• Performed by: Elena Pellone
• Vocalist-Performer: Muriel Louveau
• Guest Appearance: Eric Nicholson
• Musical Performance: Alessandra Bonetti
• Lighting Designer: George Sifakis
• Assistant Directors: Julia Kogkou, Katia Makrykosta
• Set-Costume Design Assistant: Prokopis Prokopiou
• Literary Consultant: Gilda Tentorio

Special thanks to Andromachi Montzoli, costumier “Σημεία όψης” and “Imera Theater” for hospitality and support; Michael Demetrius and Sophia Papachristou for photography; Gianni Barabaschi for woodwork; and Aspasia Kavvadia & Artur Krukowski for crowdfunding contributions.

Performance Details

Enter Hamlet opened the Verona Shakespeare Fringe Festival at Teatro Camploy on August 23, 2022, presented entirely in English. The production was a collaboration between Persona Theatre Company, the Skene Research Center of the University of Verona, and the Municipality of Verona. Silvia Bigliazzi, director of the Skene Research Center, emphasized the production’s role in showcasing Shakespeare’s enduring relevance across languages and cultures.

The minimalist set design, composed of movable cubes, complemented Elena Pellone’s physical performance, creating an illusion of movement while underscoring Hamlet’s introspective journey. Three screens behind the actor projected evocative, often provocative, images of Hamlet’s memories, blurring the line between past and present. Alessandra Bonetti’s live musical performance—featuring clarinet, bassoon, and flute—punctuated the existential questions at the heart of the play.

Reviews

• Paneacquaculture (05/09/22): Enter Hamlet: un Amleto greco torturato dalla memoria by Gilda Tentorio
• Critical Stages / The IATC Journal (December 2022, Issue No 26): A Greek Intermedial Hamlet Tortured by Memory by Gilda Tentorio
• UnivrMagazine (25/08/22): Coverage of the Verona Shakespeare Fringe Festival opening, highlighting the production’s innovative approach to Hamlet and its exploration of memory, identity, and existential themes.