A Summer Hamlet

'This above all: to thine own self be true'

In April 2011, eight actors, two stage managers and one wardrobe manager set out to tour a production of Hamlet around the UK and Europe. A revealing documentary film directed by Helen Lawson, A Summer Hamlet offers a touching insight into the unfolding friendships and shared laughter that make up the highs and lows of life on the road.

Synopsis

Following the company and their director, Dominic Dromgoole (Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe), A Summer Hamlet begins by following the difficulties the team face during dress rehearsals at the Theatre Royal, Margate, UK before taking up position with the actors backstage as the curtain goes up on their first performance.

We glimpse rehearsal room mayhem, pre-show high jinx and backstage nerves as the production journeys to various venues around the UK and abroad, including the Minack Theatre, Cornwall, and the Schlosshof, Carnuntum, Austria. Battling with the elements and a temperamental Ford Escort, a company of actors become friends as they negotiate the realities of life on tour.

Culminating in their final performance at Hamlet’s own home of Elsinore Castle, Denmark, they must then say an emotional goodbye as they each go their separate ways on their return to the UK at the end of the tour.

Running time: 86 mins