With The Last Hamlet, Ben Duke imagines staging the final performance of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Renowned for his distinctive style, which blends dance, theatre and humour, and for his bold, unexpected reworkings of classic texts, the British choreographer and director questions the model of masculinity embodied by the Prince of Denmark. Is it time to make room for new stories? Has this cultural and historical touchstone reached the end of its relevance?
When he discovers that his story is about to be “deleted,” Hamlet takes to the stage one last time. He arrives armed with a new speech, fresh material and compelling arguments in a final attempt to persuade the audience to grant him one last chance.
The result is an ironic, provocative and iconoclastic performance, full of paradoxes, blending stand-up comedy, live performance and references to The Lion King. Together with his company Lost Dog, Duke explores which stories continue to be told, who gets to tell them, and how they can be continually rewritten, challenged and reinvented.
Ben Duke is the co-founder and artistic director of Lost Dog. He trained at the Guildford School of Acting and the London Contemporary Dance School, and holds a degree in English Literature from Newcastle University. In 2016, Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) was nominated for the Sky Academy Arts Awards in the Dance category. Ben Duke won the 2016 National Dance Critics Award for Outstanding Male Performance for Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) and the 2017 Rural Touring Award for the most innovative show.
Alongside his work with Lost Dog, Ben Duke has directed and choreographed works for other companies, including Goat for Rambert Dance, which was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2018 for Best New Dance Production. With the support of Dance East, Junction, and several youth companies including Verve and Intoto, he has also choreographed projects for the National Theatre of Scotland, the Gate Theatre in London, and Handspring UK. As a performer, he has collaborated with Probe, Hofesh Shechter Company, Tilted Productions, Gate Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, Glyndebourne Opera, and Punchdrunk.
THE LAST HAMLET
Concept and direction: Ben Duke
With: Miguel Altunaga, Ben Duke e Hannah Hulford
Set and costume design: Soutra Gilmour
Light design: Jackie Shemesh
Sound design: Jethro Cooke
Video design: Will Duke
Production manager: Ed Borgnis
Stage manager: Andrea Scrimshaw
Technical stage manager: Rachel Glover
Production LX / relight: Daniel Harvey
Lightning programming: Nadene Wheatley
Costume supervision: Anna Josephs
For Lost Dog
Executive producer: Daisy Drury
Producer: Emma Evelyn
Tour booking (Europa): Gabrielle Veyssiere
Marketing: Beryl Dzambo
Press & PR: Judy Lipsey
Co-production:
Théâtre de la Ville, Parigi
Sadler’s Wells
Festival d’Avignon
Romaeuropa Festival
With the support of:
Arts Council England, The Linbury Trust, Pavillon Noir (Aix-en-Provence), Warwick Arts Centre, DanceEast, South East Dance
