Hamlet, In the Folds of Time

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Image courtesy of Grec Festival de Barcelona

The Brazilian director Christiane Jatahy, known for her new takes on the classics, turns Hamlet into a woman and gives her a camera to rework a story that has been told a thousand times.

In a new female body, Hamlet awakens to rediscover, traverse and transform the past: from the violent patriarchy represented by Claudius and the new tyrannical king who killed her father to wars and deaths. When she goes back in time, as if through a mirror, she will relive the history of the play she is in and the many ways in which it has been brought to the stage. Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet’s mother and lover, become representatives of everything that occupies the protagonist’s mind. All three women navigate between past and present, with the here and now of the theater as their destination. Film plays a fundamental role in the montage, which uses it as a tool to amplify theater and reality.

How many women have played Hamlet throughout history? Charlotte Charkei in the 18th century, then the eternal Sara Bernard and, at the same Teatre Grec, Núria Espert in 1960, to name just a few. Now, however, we are going to see not an actress playing a male role, but a woman who is Hamlet and who crosses the boundaries of gender.

The performance is multilingual and will be subtitled in Catalan and English.

A performance in the 2024 edition of Grec Festival de Barcelona.

Sounds of the City: Summer Music Festivals

What are your plans for summer? If you’re staying in the city, you won’t be alone. Barcelona is becoming a go-to destination for festival lovers, given Catalunya’s covetable combination of culture, great weather and an increasingly diverse concert circuit. So if you’re looking to expand your horizons while staying put this season, check out our article Sounds of the City: Summer Music Festivals for a summary of the summer music events taking place in Barcelona, from big-name gatherings to boutique takeovers.

For more music events check our online events calendar.