The award-winning staging of Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Paolo Magelli and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble tonight, 13 July 13 at 9.30 p.m on the Lovrjenac Fort, will open the drama portion of the 73rd Festival programme, with three more performances are scheduled for 14, 15 and 16 July.
After an almost ten-year hiatus, the Prince of Denmark was returned to the festival stage in the anniversary 70th edition of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival by director Paolo Magelli. The production was immediately recognized by audiences and critics alike, as evidenced by full seats and two prestigious Zlatni Studio Media Awards in the categories of best play and best theatre actor for Frano Mašković.
– The great interest of the public, for the third year in a row, makes me very happy because it confirms that we have done a good job. I absolutely adore this play, as well as climbing Lovrjenac every time, coming to this mythical Elsinore, to this, as Hamlet says, nutshell of ours. After three years, we are smarter and more experienced, so we changed some things, upgraded others, but without an audience, we are stumped. The joy is great and we can't wait to share all that we carry inside us with the audience – said the first Dubrovnik-born actor in the role of Hamlet, Frano Mašković.
Besides Mašković, the Festival Drama Ensemble includes Milan Pleština as the king, Nikša Butijer as Polonius, Ermin Bravo as Horatio, Ugo Korani as Laertes, Enes Vejzović and Pjer Meničanin play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, while Ranko Zidarić is Fortinbras. Nina Violić is Gertrude and Anđela Ramljak Ophelia. They are joined by, as actors, soldiers and gravediggers: Hrvojka Begović, Domagoj Janković, Matija Čigir, Bernard Tomić, Karlo Mrkša and Pavle Vrkljan. The adaptation and dramaturgy based on the Vladimir Gerić translation of Shakespeare was done by Željka Udovičić Pleština, while set design is done by Lorenzo Banci, costumes by Leo Kulaš, music by Ljupče Konstantinov, video production by Ivan Marušić Klif and lighting design by Aleksandar Čavlek. Lovro Buva taught the actors swordsmanship. Assistants to the creative team are Tamara Damjanović, Ana Fucijaš and Miran Brautović, while Roko Grbin is in charge of stage management
The director Paolo Magelli made his Festival debut in 1974 – the Festival’s silver jubilee – with Mandragola and then followed his the central Festival productions of the Phoenetian Women on, Držić’s Uncle Maroye, Grižula and many others. After a 45 year long wait, Magelli returned to the anniversary 70th Festival to direct Hamlet on Lovrjenac.
Tickets for the play, which is subtitled in English, are available online at the Festival’s official website https://www.dubrovnik-festival.hr/ and through the ticket service www.ulaznice.hr, as well as the Festival Palace Box Office (Od Sigurate 1), which is open every day from 9 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased at the venue, two hours prior to the performance. Purchases made with Mastercard® and Maestro® cards provide special benefits and discounts.