Caveman Hamlet Vision

Hamlet in caveman ages.

There are several reasons make me want to do a Hamlet in caveman ages. The first one is the animation movie, Lion King. What both Hamlet and Simba share is their fathers are both killed by their uncle; they also have a similar way to go through the conflicts to try to get back their position. In the animation movie, the “palace” is a cave in a high mountain. At first I wanted to combine the two production and I found it hard: you cannot simply convert Hamlet to lion and add other animal characters. So I decided to create a caveman Hamlet. Next, the movie Hamlet 2000 also gives me a lot of inspiration. This production is an adaptation for Hamlet in modern world. It uses a lot of modern technologies to replace the original properties. Even “Denmark” becomes a film company in NYC and Hamlet is the son of the former CEO. No more king, queen, princess, prince, the story still makes sense. Except the lines in the movie are still very “literature”, everything else works well. Though time changes, people never change: that is what inspired me. 

My setting: unknown caveman age. Hamlet is the son of the former chief, and every character is moved into a caveman adaptation. Denmark and Norway will be 2 caveman tribes. The key to success in this version will be how I use technical theatre to help my production makes more sense. Though this is a caveman version, it doesn’t mean it will be austere. I want a Broadway style luxurious stage. Hamlet has 5 acts, and the stage setting will change as the scene changes. I will focus on several scene: “to be or not to be”, “hamlet kills Polonius”.

In the scene “to be or not to be”, I am inspired by the Hamlet 1996. In that production, Hamlet delivers his speech in a hall full of mirrors. I like the idea of that Hamlet seems doing an introspection to himself when he’s delivering the speech. Instead of mirrors, which doesn’t exist in ancient time, I will use a lake. My ideal scene will be: Hamlet lingers on the lake shore, delivers his speech, and Ophelia comes in, while Claudius and Polonius hide in the bush on the other side. 

The stage arrangement for “Hamlet kills Polonius” has a stage setting that is inside of the cave(imaginary palace). Every furniture in the room of Gertrude is made of stone or wood and they need to be coarse. Because there is no curtain in Stone Age, I will replace the curtain by a bush (another bush!!). Hamlet does not use a knife to stab the bush but he will throw a rock.

To show the audience what is happening in public space and what is happening behind conspiracies, the only two scenes that use warm tone floodlights will be the beginning of the whole play and the ending(climax). 

For costumes, cavemen dress similar. The way to separate the main characters from other people is to use various accessories. For example, Gertrude will have golden or silver bracelets, Claudius will have a walking stick with a skull on its top. The sound effect will be augmented and exaggerated. For example, when the rock hits Polonius in the bush, it will play a “duang” sound, like 2 plastic balls collide. And I don’t want any blood on the stage, when people fight, I don’t want the realistic fighting but a humorous one. 

Overall, my production is a caveman adaptation of Hamlet, with a lot of humorous elements. The lines and plot will be close to the original, but the details like the way they fight will be ridiculous.