Sat, Jul 12 2008 - The Stratford Festival of Canada: Shakespeare's Hamlet (View Original Event Details)
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Four of us travelled to Stratford to attend the Stratford Festival's production of "Hamlet", with Ben Carlson playing Hamlet and Adrienne Gould playing Ophelia. This Hamlet was very engaging and smart in using the guise of insanity to try to uncover the underlying truth of his family situation and political world. Ophelia was equally bold in her use of insanity to challenge those who have made her world loveless, false and destructive. And beyond these two figures, it is fair to say that everyone else is also "plotting" and "lying" in order to further his/her own ends. In the final analysis, Ophelia is the only one who dies directly by her own hand rather than through the unfortunate clashing of her "plot" with that of someone else. Is she ultimately the only victorious person in the play? Or is death never a victory? Prior to watching the play, we had a nice picnic in the park next to the Festival Theatre; we also enjoyed an outdoor art show. After the show, three of us enjoyed supper at a local establishment. All in all, it was a lovely day to be in Stratford. And the art of Shakespeare forced us to rethink some of the darker sides of our human nature and the simulateneous desire for and remoteness of truth.
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