Actors performing an intimate scene between Ophelia and Hamlet. Photo: Indiana Hansen
Indiana Hansen
There are two sides to every story. How can you possibly know the truth if you only know one side?
Ophelia is a highly engaging immersive performance open to public viewing at RMIT First Site Gallery on Wednesday and Thursday, featuring apart of Melbourne Fringe Festival. It revives one of the most influential stories ever written from a perspective you most likely have never reflected on before.
Writer Abdul Gazi and director Aim Nattha Sangboon present Ophelia’s truth to those prepared to consider the other side of history. They have approached Shakespeare’s Hamlet with a powerful change of lens, handing all power over to the women of the hour.
In doing so, Abdul and Aim have co-created a piece of dramatic modern art through the use of space, light, sound, rhythm, and movement, which are perhaps more important than the dialogue itself.
Audience members in the workshop viewing. Photo: Indiana Hansen
It’s certainly no coincidence how seamlessly this performance moves around the different cubical compartments of RMIT University’s First Site Gallery. The script was written after Abdul had found and been granted access to the gallery, meaning the performance wasn’t moulded to the confines of the space but rather written to custom-fit.
Immersive theatre does precisely what film cannot. This performance not only breaks down the fourth wall but takes you, as an audience member, a step beyond spectating. You won’t be sitting back in a red chair, eating popcorn and watching from afar like you would in traditional theatre. You will be on your feet for the most part and purposely made to feel uncomfortable as the characters usher you around the ‘theatre’ (art gallery).
Actor as Ophelia and audience members. Photo: Indiana Hansen
In all the chaos, you have to remain present and as in-the-moment as possible to be physically a part of--and emotionally invested in--the performance as it carries on around you. The sheer intimidation of this is arguably what makes the story so intense. By inserting you into the live-action and bringing you face-to-face with Shakespearian characters, you are majestically (and personally) confronted by Ophelia’s truth – or rather, fragments of Ophelia’s past. It’s as if she has returned from the dead to take you on a tour of what went down – and, what went wrong.
The opening sequence is jam-packed with improvisation to help you begin to unpack the early stages of grief. Depending on whose table you sit down at, audience members are given the opportunity to explore the complexities of a given character and their relationship with Ophelia.
In the early stages of writing Ophelia, Abdul spent time analysing all the characters who appeared in Hamlet, including Hamlet himself. This, in turn, helped Abdul achieve quality actor-audience engagement to help people truly appreciate the different Shakespearian personalities.
“I just want them [audience members] to understand the characters,” Abdul said.
Without giving too much away, it’s no secret that Ophelia has been through a lot as a woman living in the late middle ages and the full impact of this is hard-hitting. Surrounded by and dependent on men, it is not far-fetched to consider her descent into madness as a result of the abuse she endures, stemmed from existing patriarchal pressure. This immersive experience is a wild ride of considerably dark themes, as is Shakespeare’s Hamlet - touching on death, moral corruption, power(lessness), misogyny and the complexities of mental health. It is certainly not for the light-hearted.
To go or not to go?
Either way, tickets are selling fast.
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