Waiting for Hamlet hits the Hastings stage

Waiting for Hamlet by Sussex writer David Visick plays the Stables Theatre, Hastings on July 15 at 7.30pm.
Waiting For HamletWaiting For Hamlet
Waiting For Hamlet

The piece won the Kenneth Branagh New Writing Award over two years ago.

During lockdown an audio version won an OnComm commendation and then the Brighton Fringe Michael Graney Bursary for its recent appearance at the Rialto Theatre.

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Set before the tragedy of Hamlet begins, Waiting for Hamlet places the Old King in the afterlife with his jester, Yorick.

Locked down in limbo, the King wants to go back and right wrongs, but there’s a problem: he wants to right the wrong wrongs.

And the only thing that can stop the old fool is the old Fool, Yorick.

A comedy about arguably greatest tragedy ever written, Waiting for Hamlet is produced by Sussex-based Smokescreen Productions and performed by 90s sit-com actor Tim Marriott (The Brittas Empire; Allo, Allo) and Royal Shakespeare Company veteran Nicholas Collett.

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As Tim (Old King) puts it, “two old fools playing two old fools…”

Nicholas (Yorick) said: “It’s been a long journey making this piece.

“A shortened version saw life at the Windsor Fringe before being developed into the full play that should have premiered at Brighton and Edinburgh last year.

“In pandemic confusion, the Old King keeps wondering where are we and where we are going… I just tell him that we are where we are, and so on we go… That’ll be the Stables Theatre for Hastings Fringe in July, then!”

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Waiting for Hamlet will also visit festivals including Ludlow, Bristol Manchester and Petworth.

And then it will be flying further afield.

International dates are planned for Australia and the USA in 2023.

The play comes from Smokescreen Productions. You can find out more about the company on their website at www.smokescreenprods.com

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