Hamlet – Directed by Kumiko Ueda at SPAC (Shizuoka Performing Arts Center)

In this new production, Kumiko Ueda reimagines Hamlet through the eyes of its heroine, Ophelia.

Throughout his plays, Shakespeare depicted a vast cosmos—one that embraces not only the human world but also the realm of nature. In Hamlet, there exists a world seen only by boundary-dwelling figures: Ophelia, whose mind unravels; the Gravediggers, who unearth decomposing bodies; and other liminal presences at the edge of society and reason. Yet, in most traditional productions, such roles have merely served as marginal characters orbiting the tragic life of Hamlet.

In this work, the deceased Ophelia revisits the story of Hamlet as a flashback, recounting it together with the non-human forms of life that make up Shakespeare’s cosmos. When Ophelia—devoid of rational language—and flora and fauna stand in contrast to Hamlet, the intellectual figure symbolic of modern logocentrism, what kind of world begins to unfold?

This concept resonates with themes explored in Ueda’s recent creations: “Project Pneuma” (2024, Kinosaki International Arts Center) and “Training Pool for Breathing” (2025, performed in Hibiya Park).

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