By Jess Elfick

Shakespeare’s iconic Hamlet has been explored across the ages, with the Melbourne University Shakespeare Company (MUSC) approaching the task of a new and “radical” reinterpretation this year in the form of HAML3T. After the inaugural sold-out shows were performed in May, MUSC now prepares for Melbourne Fringe Festival. 

I spoke with co-writers and directors Sabina Donato (she/her) and Laura Charlton (she/her) about the production’s newest rendition.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.

Can you give us a brief description of what the show is about?

Laura Charlton: The plot is basically centred around Horatio. At the end of the original Hamlet, as the original Hamlet is dying in Horatio’s arms… Hamlet says you need to keep telling my story. We began from that point and said, “Oh, so Horatio has been telling this story over and over again. What if we tried to change it and make sure that Hamlet doesn’t die?” There’s all these different versions of Hamlet and they’ve all collided into this one production, with all of them being different versions that Horatio has written at different points in time to try and make sure that Hamlet wouldn’t die.

I know this show was performed earlier in the year at the Guild Theatre, but this is a new rendition—is there anything that had to be changed or adapted?

LC: I don’t think we needed to change anything for Fringe—we could’ve just remounted the same show and it would’ve been fine, but we didn’t want to. We had ideas. I feel like a play is never finished. There’s a bunch of material that’s been cut, there’s new material, there’s entirely new scenes, because we couldn’t just put on the same show when we knew we could do it better. 

Sabina Donato: In the rehearsal room it’s like the tone has changed as well. We’re so lucky that we have such a talented and dedicated and passionate cast, and every single one of them have really taken these characters and made them their own. Going into this new round of rehearsals, it feels like everyone can explore more and get more in depth and bring a seriousness and a darkness to the show.

Is this a play that people can enjoy regardless of a Shakespearean background, or lack thereof?

LC: I think it definitely is. I had plenty of friends that were texting me beforehand like “Do I need to read Hamlet before I come see this play?”, “Do I need to do a Sparknotes session?” and no—it’s a completely different story. It’s built not to be about Hamlet the text, but Hamlet the cultural phenomenon. It’s the Hamlet that lives in everyone’s brains, not that’s on the page.

SD: A few of my friends didn’t know a thing about Hamlet, and then by the end were sobbing, because they may not have recognised the original Hamlet, but they can still get invested with these characters. We don’t need to be scared of Shakespeare. There’s a reputation that he’s a very intellectualized source, but our goal is to let people not be afraid of Shakespeare.

Is there any reason specifically you think people should come to your show?

SD: People should come and see the show because it takes on a life of its own on the stage that I can’t really articulately describe. On our last night at the Guild, I started crying at the end of Act One, and didn’t stop crying through the whole of Act Two, because it was Laura and I’s show, but it became something so much bigger and better than anything I thought in my head. 

LC: I know people are often reluctant to see student theatre, and it gets a bit of a bad rep just because it’s people learning on the job and they’re not going to get everything right, but I’ve never been to a student production where I’ve come out and said “I wish I didn’t see that.” These people are doing it out of pure love. You can really feel that when you’re watching HAML3T. 

SD: I would love it if HAML3T could really galvanize people who want to make theatre, or any art, and it could inspire them, and make them want to get a little bit radical—like we did. I know that’s cheesy, but I just really hope that seeing this show could mean something to someone, or inspire someone, because I know that watching this come to life and watching our teamwork has inspired me.

In collaboration with Unspooled Theatre Collective, MUSC’s HAML3T is being performed from October 18th to 22nd at Gasworks Theatre on the unceded lands of the Boon Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation, as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

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Jess Elfick (she/her) is a Design/Engineering student who enjoys smashing together all things creative with all things science. She is based in Naarm/Melbourne.