Hamlet.

REVIEWED BY ANNE FLINDT CHRISTENSEN

It was with great expectation that the Copenhagen audience set out in the summer rain for Elsinore and Kronborg Castle to see Peter Schaufuss's new Hamlet. At first sight the old castle and its moat seemed the perfect dramatic setting for Shakespeare's tragedy, but as the scenes went on it became evident that the old Danish tale would remain as foggy as a half-forgotten nightmare. Schaufuss's interpretation simply didn't evoke the bodies and souls of the characters.

The role of Hamlet was danced by Johan Kobborg with great nerve and devil-may-care conviction in every gesture. Yet even this convincing talent couldn't hide the lack of original material in Schaufuss's choreography, which consisted mostly of well-known classical positions colored by Bejart-like flexed feet and comical Neumeier effects. Altogether, it seemed hard to recognize any specific Schaufuss touch in this ambitious ballet, the first that is completely his own work.

In concept, the ballet had seemed promising because of its large-scale combination of artistic disciplines. Schaufuss decided to mix symphonic music by the Danish composer Rued Langgaard with rock music by the Danish group Sort Sol ("Black Sun"). The music kept the work together in a well structured dramatic frame, but the stylistic differences of the soundscapes never really created an obvious contrast. And even though the castle ramparts provided an authentic and ghostlike atmosphere for the bloody drama, stage designer Stephen Scott didn't seriously incorporate the castle into his could-be-anywhere stage.

More crucial, however, was the emptiness of the characters. Essentially none of the roles seemed to be understood; complicated feelings and paradoxical actions were only observed at a distance. Hamlets famous "To be, or not to be" soliloquy was almost mimed. All the other characters appeared dim and unexplained, and the courtiers were completely anonymous. Ophelia's fatal meeting with Hamlet didn't leave much for the beautiful Marie-Pierre Flechais to die for, and Martin James was not given many chances to show the range of the fall of the wheedling King Claudius. Only Queen Gertrude was portrayed with eye-catching passion, accentuated by Rose Gad, who transformed Hamlets mother into a woman of both fragile anxiety and erotic tension.

Hamlet was, however, a success with audiences at and the production was scheduled to move to the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in September. It can be seen there until Christmas, alongside Peter Martins's new Swan Lake--a rare repertory duet of two international Danes challenging two big classics.