Peter Giser, Snowglobe Artistic Director and Director for our spring production of Hamlet. We asked him a few questions about his take on this version of the Shakespeare classic tragedy.

Q: Why do Hamlet in this day and age? How is it relevant to us in the 21st century?
Peter: The questions Hamlet asks are more timely than ever in the world of today: What should we do when we perceive wrong? How do our actions affect others? Do you stop violence with violence, or is there another way? And perhaps most difficult of all is the issue of how people can come to trust each other in dangerous circumstances. The conflict between people with opposing values on these issues has never been more relevant than it is now in our partisan world, where the two “mighty opposites” – being truthful and caring for others, versus taking selfishly – are shown throughout the story.
Q: What’s so special about this particular take on the play? 
Peter: This production has a special focus on women’s roles in the male-dominated kingdom, and touches upon how abused the female characters can be. And yet even through that abuse how they manage to find their own ways to voice their needs and take some power. Also very important to our production is the connection between the act of storytelling and the audience, as the audience is drawn into the story in various ways to show that what happens on stage is for all to consider. One thing our show also takes very seriously is the need for humor, even in the darkest situations. This show is meant to be fun, and that’s what we aim to portray.

Q: Any striking features of this production?
Peter: We have a very diverse cast, including veterans of Montreal community theatre, recent acting school graduates, and professional actors, with a strong emphasis on diversity of all kinds, and with a very wide age range among the cast members. In our efforts to show that Hamlet is not only fun but also for everyone, we hope that our diverse cast will also show the inclusive nature of Shakespeare. The cast is well-represented from both genders, as well as from different backgrounds including black, white, Asian, First Nations, European, and of course a full complement of local Montreal artists. Our performance space, Espace Knox, will provide an especially vivid feel for being in a castle, and live original music will further enhance the overall experience. Our show’s main objectives are for it to be entertaining, understandable, and relatable, and we believe we’ll be able to deliver a fun and yet detailed look at the situation of a particular Danish Prince.