‘A questionable shape’: Anatomising Hamlet in Gertrude (Radu F. Alexandru/Silviu Purcărete, 2023)
Abstract
In 2023, Silviu Purcărete engaged with William Shakespeare's Hamlet at the National Theatre in Bucharest through the mediation of a Romanian adaptation, Radu F. Alexandru's Gertrude (2012). In Purcărete's vision, Elsinore appeared as a burlesque, corrupt yet playful universe where a family drama unfolded under the eyes of a voyeuristic spectator. This article argues that by multiplying its self-conscious theatrical devices the production also reflected on the status of the adaptation, as a mediated, fragmented access to the work, mirroring the director's puzzlement with Shakespeare's tragedy.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Shakespeare
Adaptation
and Literary Criticism
Theatre and Performance Studies
Renaissance Literature and Culture
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Cahiers Élisabéthains A Journal of English Renaissance Studies
- Volume
- 119
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 76–88
- Publication date
- 3 March 2026
- Language
- EN