A great actor for a viscerally mad Hamlet

Twenty-first-century theater assumes that the classics must be betrayed to bring them closer to the modern world. A betrayal of traditional forms that, while preserving the plot and characters, revolutionizes the way stories are told. Hamlet from the Berlin Schaubühne directed by Thomas Ostermeier It is a paradigmatic example. Since its premiere in 2008, it has become an iconic proposal celebrated all over the world, which passed like lightning in December of that year through the Teatre Lliure and has now inaugurated the Temporada Alta festival at the Teatre Municipal de Girona.

And this is that Hamlet He's not like so many others we've known. He's no hero, nor does he drag his doubts around like a lost soul. Quite the contrary, Lars Eidinger's superb Hamlet is a bewildered young man in a world of intrigue. A jester who penetrates simulated madness until he becomes a screaming madman, who gesticulates like a clown, who improvises, speaking in English directly to the audience, who descends into the stalls and grabs a female spectator's jacket before the final duel with Laertes. This is made possible by Marius von Mayenburg's fantastic dramaturgy, which modifies the dramatic structure without betraying it, omitting scenes and rewriting others, and even adding them. This, along with Ostermeier's playful, uninhibited, detached, respectful but not reverent gaze.

At the beginning of the performance, the tone is clear, with the burial of the dead king transformed into a comical silent film scene that could have starred Buster Keaton. This isn't the only comical touch. In fact, the now-bellied prince is reminiscent of Falstaff. And dressed as a Protestant priest, he lashes out at Gertrude. Rosencrantz and Guildernstern look like a duo of fools. The whole thing is a constant masquerade ball with five actors doubling the characters. Urs Jucker's Claudius splashes mud on his face and becomes the ghost. Gertrude takes off her blond wig and dark glasses and becomes Ophelia. What talent! The pacing is magnificent. The two-and-a-half-hour performance flies by. Everything is energetic. But Shakespeare's words breathe.