Hamlet : Prince of Skidmark at Arts Centre Melbourne

Kidult comedy favourites The Listies are returning to Arts Centre Melbourne as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a very cheeky, very clever, utterly irreverent riff on Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet : Prince of Skimarkfrom 11 – 15 April, 2023.

The duo is thrilled to be back on the road for a national tour after the production was stalled in 2020, saying it was “a great opportunity to revisit an important work like Hamlet and put in more zombies, fart jokes and body flossing. Which, to be frank, it needed.

The Listies, maestros of children’s entertainment, have pulled apart Shakespeare’s classic and glued it back together with hilarious costumes, loads of silliness and plenty of interactivity with the young people in their audiences.

According to The Listies, the time is right for Hamlet’s return:

Shakespeare is on the way up at the moment. In 2020 no-one knew who he was. He was super niche and indie, like only hipsters “got” him. But then he went on The Bachelor, did Celebrity Big Brother UK and now he is massive on TikTok. We’ve heard something about a Stan special, Lego Masters and a Kombucha endorsement but his agent is being super cagey.

The duo:

Hamlet was already full of things kids love in a good story: ghosts, castles, sword fights, body fluids and fun spooky stuff. Add to the mix supersonic gags and expertly timed stage magic and you have a brilliantly disguised Shakespearean tragedy for everyone aged five and over.

Expect bonus pillow fights, pirates, ninjas, ninja pirates, aliens, ninja pirate aliens, zombies, and a bunch of other hilarious stuff as The Listies take kids, and their adults, on a fun-filled hour of theatre. The only thing you can be sure of is that everyone dies at the end – including the audience!

The Listies are one of Australia’s most popular entertainment duos for young people. With multiple awards and sell-out seasons at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe audiences love their silly yet smart approach to their work, which now encompasses four books, two DVD specials, four albums, and two ABC iView series – The Listies Work For Peanuts and Art Blast.

The production will be presented as part of Arts Centre Melbourne’s year-round Families and Children Program. Launched in August 2009 and it has grown in reputation to become a highly respected program nationally and internationally.

Featuring intimate and large-scale theatre from some of the world’s most respected companies and a diverse range of interactive workshops, the program is robust and growing in size, scale and scope.

Daily Review:

If you want your kids to have fun at the theatre and fall for all its magic, get them to a Listies show as soon as possible… Nobody else makes Shakespeare this fun.

ArtsHub:

This is Hamlet with everything you could have wanted and more, and it’s the perfect way to introduce a young person to the magic and chaos of theatre, as well as to the work of Shakespeare.

AWARDS

• 2019 Winner – Edinburgh Fringe ‘Primary Times Choice Award
• 2016 Winner – The HarperCollins Best Designed Children’s Fiction Book
• 2013 Winner – Best Production for Children, Sydney Theatre Awards

Originally commissioned & first produced at Wharf 1 Theatre by Sydney Theatre Company. This production has been assisted by the NSW Government through Create NSW, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

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Season Details

Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne| Playhouse
Date: 11- 15 April, 2023

Photo Credit: Daniel Boud

For more information click HERE