Adam Walny with Lars Kynde, photo: Walny - Teatr
Adam Walny presents his puppet Opus Hamlet in the scenery of the Dutch Kronborg castle, the Shakespearian Hamlet's original abode. Walny is the first Polish artist to stage a performane on Denmark's Hamletian stage
Opus Hamlet, prepared especially for the occasion, employs unusual puppets. The artist explains:
They bring together two functions: the basic one of impersonating a character of the play, and also that of being an instrument. In Opus Hamlet, it is really the instruments who take on the major role, and the action unfolds in the form of a musical drama, devoid of any language barriers.
The Danish composer Lars Kynde cooperated with Walny on the musical score of the piece.
The premiere showing of the play is presented on the 16th of June, 2012, at the Kronborg castle in Helsingor. It it where the action of Shakespeare's play is located. Adam Walny comments:
It is an extraordinary stage, which invites artists and theatres from across the globe to prepare and show a piece about Hamlet. It is the first time an artist from Poland was invited to participate in this event, and this makes me feel all the more honoured.
The performance will be shown twice a day through to the 12th of July.
Adam Walny is an actor, director and puppeteer, and a graduate of the Puppet Theatre Direction Department of Warsaw's Theatre School. He is the founder of the Walny-Teatr group, which is based in Ryglice. Walny coordinates projects which employ puppets, mask theatre and various set design experiments, and take on the form of street theatre as well as classic theatre stagings.
Adam Walny also employs puppets outside of the stage, in educative and therapeutic activities, as well as performance-art pieces. He is the author of following plays: Kuglarz i Śmierć (The Juggler and Death), Motyl (Butterfly), Genesis, Kamieniarz (Mason), Misterium Narodzenia (The Mystery of Birth), and Dziadek (Grandfather), which have been presented at numeours Polish and international puppet theatre festivals.
Editor: SRS
Source: e-teatr.pl, www.walny-teatr.sdk.pl