HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show) comes to Auckland

HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show) comes to Auckland for the first time for gamers and Shakespeare buffs alike

YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THE BARD THIS BAD-ASS!

Auckland Live with The Court Jesters presents
HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show)
Written by Simon Peacock

Think Ophelia as a robot, King Duncan being greeted with a hand grenade, Yorick as a zombie, and you’ve got HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show).

Following a successful season at the Court Theatre in Christchurch, HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show) comes to Auckland for the first time for gamers and Shakespeare buffs alike. Catch it during the school holidays from October 4-7 at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre as part of Auckland Live’s Kids Play programme.

The show reimagines Hamlet as an interactive video game, blending the Prince of Denmark’s soliloquies with mortal combat, zombies and a final boss battle. The audience calls the shots so that each performance takes a different route. Every level must be conquered until Hamlet’s father’s death has been avenged!

Writer Simon Peacock brings his experience as a voice director for some of the biggest games in the industry including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Prince of Persia and Deus Ex to HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show). This innovative show combines the best of video games with the language and tortured plots of The Bard’s most performed play.

The cast includes members of the hugely popular Christchurch improv troupe The Court Jesters, bringing their talents to HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show)’s pitch-perfect blend of geek humour and Shakespeare’s best jokes. Dan Bain brings Hamlet to life with video game gravitas, while Kathleen Burns and Jared Corbin challenge video game stereotypes with their portrayals of the Hamlet cast.

A master of stage and screen musical composition as well as video games, musician Hamish Oliver provides a live backing track to the show. A large LED screen makes a digital backdrop for the show complete with playful animations and video game reward screens. The show goes as far as giving the audiences the ability to watch on as characters are customised on screen. AV designer Andrew Todd has flawlessly created video game graphics, right down to the perfect fonts, proving a real love for video game culture.

Auckland Live Programme Development Producer, Janelle Bish, says “This extraordinary show brings contemporary relevance to one of Shakespeare’s beloved works by retelling the story through the lens of one of this century’s most popular video games.”

HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show) is part of the Auckland Live Kids Play programme, an ongoing initiative to introduce children to the arts, and nurture their creativity and curiosity.

HAMLET: The Video Game (The Stage Show) plays:
Wednesday 4 – Saturday 7 October, 11am and 7pm
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre
Recommended for ages 10+
Duration: 1 hour 15 mins (no interval)
Tickets: Child $20; Adult $32 (service fees apply)

#HamletTheVideoGame #AucklandLiveKidsPlay

For more info visit aucklandlive.co.nz/show/hamlet-the-video-game

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