Program

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Hamlet

Words from the director

Welcome to Hamlet, one of William Shakespeare’s most beloved and explored works.

Though I’m bound by the centuries of tradition surrounding Hamlet, it also allows me the freedom to continue to explore the play further. To constantly rework, reinterpret and rediscover Hamlet has become part of its tradition.

I have been particularly fascinated by this tragedy ever since the first time I read it. The young Prince Hamlet faces a choice: avenge his father’s murder, urged on by his father’s ghost; or remain passive and live with the consequences of betrayal and injustice. It’s a story where moral questions don’t have simple answers, and I have often found myself reflecting on how this fact remains just as relevant in today’s society.

When I hear the famous monologue “To be or not to be,” I feel a profound sense of human vulnerability. I can sense the existential weight Hamlet carries, the timeless question of what it truly means to live and to act, or to not act. It’s a play that, despite its age, always manages to remind me of our shared human dilemmas. What do we do when we find ourselves at a moral crossroad? How far are we willing to go for the sake of justice, to protect our loved ones?

It’s not merely the grand themes of the play that make Hamlet so special to me. It’s also the small, intimate moments – Hamlet’s relationship with his mother, his desperate love for Ophelia, and his doubts about the world around him. These personal moments give depth to the great questions the play poses and turn it into a journey, not only through a political tragedy, but also through the darkest corners of the human soul.

Welcome to Hamlet—a performance that, just like life itself, offers everything from bitter sorrow to fleeting moments of clarity, and always leaves us with more to ponder.

Dritëro Kasapi
Director

Creative team

Dritëro Kasapi

Director

Annika Bromberg

Set & costume designer

Tommi Saviranta

Lightning designer

Hanna Mikander

Sound designer

Tiitta Stoor

Hair and makeup designer

Actors

Sonia Haga

Ofelia

Jesper Fransson

Hamlet

Patrick Henriksen

Rosencrantz

Dennis Nylund

Gyldenstern, Laertes

Sophia Heikkilä

Queen Gertrud

Mikael Andersson

Polonius

Mitja Sirén

Skådespelaren, Osric

Niklas Åkerfelt

King Claudius

Hamlet

There is something magical about theaters

I love the feeling of entering a theater—just being there and soaking in the atmosphere. I don’t know what it feels like for a believer in their place of worship, but I imagine it’s a similar feeling to the one I experience when I’m at the theater. As I write this, we have just had our first rehearsal of Hamlet on stage. So far, we have been rehearsing in a different space. Now, standing there and seeing the set in place on stage for the first time, I realize: “Yes, this is really happening. There will be a performance of this!”

Imagine being a theater lover and getting to perform this play in this theater. I have the privilege of playing the role of Hamlet in the play of the same name. I am very well aware of how rare this opportunity is.

Although this is by far the most challenging and demanding work I’ve done in my short time as a professional actor, it is also among the most enjoyable. Perhaps not always enjoyable in the “haha” sense, at least not on stage, but there are plenty of laughs off stage. It is precisely this that allows me to appreciate, realize, feel, and enjoy this privilege I have been given. I have wonderful colleagues—not just fellow actors and the director, but everyone else too, from the makeup artists and costume designers to stagehands, prop masters, artistic planners, and so on. If they hadn’t been so helpful and kind, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this project as much.

So… what is it like to play the role of Hamlet? On the whole, it’s exactly the same work I do to fulfill this role as with any other. The text needs to be hammered in, and the intentions, subtexts, settings, and the right tone must be tested and explored. Some days, you fumble in the dark; other days, you see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s heavy, difficult, stressful, and challenging. As a freelance actor, I live with a constant worry about potential future unemployment (especially in these times with the current government and the cutbacks taking place), and if I were never to get another acting job again, I will always be able to look back and think, yes, I actually got to play Hamlet. In this theater. With these colleagues.

In short:

A privilege few get, and I am very grateful.

Jesper Fransson,

Actor

Production photos