Hamlet vs Hamlet in the Stadsschouwburg, is something of a must-see. The actors are all Dutch and the play is in Dutch. End of story for you English language folk? No. The performance, you see, will be subtitled in English, as will be many other plays performed in this classy theatre.
Amsterdam has a very lively theatre scene and although only a few of the plays on offer are subtitled, you will still have access to a number of rather good plays by the Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the resident company at the Stadsschouwburg. The subtitles will be displayed above the stage, which in matter of fact makes them surtitles.
Three picks from the the overview of about a dozen surtitled performances you can expect to see this season;
Dantons Dood (Danton’s Death), deals with the beheading of an important architect of the French revolution, Georges Danton. English surtitles on 13 February, 27 March and 10 April 2014.
The Fountainhead. The theatre production of Ayn Rand’s bestseller by Ivan van Hove. The story is about the struggle to remain a visionary individual and being in love. Surtitled performance on Thursday, 19 June 2014.
Hamlet vs Hamlet is an interesting character study zooming in on the psyche of the adolescent mind of the prince who has seen his king-father murdered. It is the first of four planned plays, each of which focuses in on another aspect of this character’s psyche and the last of which will be performed in 2016. The lead actor (Hamlet, duh) is a woman, which adds another layer to this venture. Just like the male actors of Shakespeare’s time played the female roles, the Dutch girl-Hamlet (Abke Haring) is not a princess pretending to be a prince but merely an actress embodying a prince.
The play is momentarily being staged throughout the country and arrives in Amsterdam Thursday, 17 and 24 April 2014 and Thursday, 8 May 2014.
The Stadsschouwburg is in central Amsterdam not far from the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the shops. Amsterdam Apartments rents plenty of apartments in this area so chances are you will be able to make your way to the venue on foot.
