Organization

Admin

Opera Australia

Conductor

Tim Anderson

Stage director

Neil Armfield

Set designer

Ralph Myers

Costume designer

Alice Babidge

Lighting designer

Jon Clark

Sound designer

Bob Scott

Peter Harrison

Choreographer

Denni Sayers

Singer

Tenor

Allan Clayton

Hamlet

Soprano

Lorina Gore

Ophelia

Baritone

Rod Gilfry

Claudius

Kanen Breen

Polonius

Samuel Dundas

Horatio

Bass

Jud Arthur

Ghost of Old Hamlet

Gravedigger

First player

Nicholas Jones

Laertes

Countertenor

Russell Harcourt

Rosencrantz

Christopher Lowrey

Guildenstern

Andrew Moran

Marcellus

Player 4

Virgilio Marino

Player 2

Iain Henderson

Player 3

Orchestra

Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra

Others

Opera Australia Chorus

English

Sydney City

Australia

Sydney Opera House

Joan Sutherland Theatre

Hamlet Dean

Public

Sagar Haldar

Approved

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
Shakespeare’s searing portrait of a prince in crisis intimidated nearly all of history’s greatest opera composers. Not so for Australian composer Brett Dean, who saw in Hamlet’s splintering sanity a perfect match for his evocative music.

Now is your chance to see one of the most successful operas ever composed by an Australian. Commissioned and premiered by Glyndebourne, and performed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York and the Adelaide Festival to great acclaim, Hamlet finally gets its Sydney Opera House debut.

Dean composed an expansive sound world, with a massive orchestra and chorus, at times positioned around the theatre. The effect is dramatic and luxurious, a wall of voices pressing in on Hamlet’s troubled mind. Electronics create musical ghosts. Librettist Matthew Jocelyn carves up the text so the familiar pops up in unexpected places.

One of Australia’s great Shakespearean directors, Neil Armfield created this “viscerally physical” (Sydney Morning Herald) production for Glyndebourne, collaborating with Australian designers Ralph Myers and Alice Babidge to produce a slick royal court with darkness at its heart.

The demanding title role needs an extraordinary performer: we’re excited to bring Allan Clayton to make his Sydney Opera House debut. His performance as Hamlet is “tremendous” (The Guardian), “mesmerising and monumental” (The Conversation). Lorina Gore reprises her “spellbinding” Helpmann Award-winning performance as Ophelia alongside an outstanding cast. Contemporary opera specialist Tim Anderson conducts.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble