HAMLET – WAKEFULNESS
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★★
“an intriguing piece, and certainly inhabits new territory for adaptations”
A prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet comes to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, courtesy of Poland’s Theatre of the Goat (Teatr Pieśń Kozła). This is Hamlet as you’ve never seen it, although never heard it, might be a better description. This work is all about the impressive singing that is the distinguishing feature of this company, under the direction of Grzegorz Bral. In sixty minutes or so in the Main Hall at Summerhall, Hamlet – Wakefulness provides a full throated meditation on “wakefulness”. As director Bral explains before the show begins, it’s an awakening to the imagined events on the night that old King Hamlet dies. It is also a mourning, a “wake” for the old King, two months before the events of Shakespeare’s play begin.
Teatr Pieśń Kozła’s was founded in the late 1990’s in Wrocław by Bral and Anna Zubrzycka. It often takes classics by Shakespeare, Euripides and others as a starting point for its explorations. Supported by anthropological and ethnomusicological fieldwork, the company focuses on ancient rituals. These rituals focus on polyphonic laments. Over the years, the company has developed its own specialized techniques for training the voices of its performers, and the result is a distinctive sound that provides great insight into the sacred practices of ancient cultures.
It’s important to approach Hamlet – Wakefulness through the music, rather than the play. Other than a few references to speeches such as “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I” and a defamiliarization of familiar characters, there’s not much relationship to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This is not so much a drama, as a liturgy, or even an opera. What catches our attention at the beginning of the show is the setting. There’s a hint of a bed for old Hamlet to lie in state upon, and silver chairs with a vague nod to Scottish symbolism in design, and cleverly constructed to hide swords. The only musical instrument on stage is the Swedish nyckelharpa. This production is nothing but eclectic in its sources for inspiration.
The production hints at Hamlet, no more. We are introduced to Gertrude and Hamlet in a sketch of the closet scene, and it’s Gertrude’s scene, make no mistake. “Hamlet is mad” she proclaims at several points, and her declaration successfully sidelines her son in favour of her new husband. When Claudius isn’t confronting someone in the cast, he is conducting the chorus—often at the same time. And in any case, a hint of Hamlet is fine, because the singing is remarkable. It may well have its origins in the laments women have sung at wakes since ancient times, as director Bral explains, but the music will also remind you of the chants of monks. There is a profoundly spiritual feel to this version of Shakespeare’s story of incest, murder and revenge. Best to let go of expectations, and just lose yourself in the song.
Hamlet – Wakefulness is an intriguing piece, and certainly inhabits new territory for adaptations from Shakespeare. If choral singing is important to you, and you’re intrigued by the idea of a Polish performance company that is justifiably celebrated for its unique approach to ancient music and classic texts, you’ll get a lot out of this show. You’ll carry the sound, and the spirituality, out of the theatre, and on your journey home.
HAMLET – WAKEFULNESS
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewed on 11th August 2025 at Main Hall at Summerhall
by Dominica Plummer
Photography by Dagmara Przeradzka
