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The classic story of Hamlet has been performed countless times in the centuries since Shakespeare’s original production at the Globe Theatre. And yet, it continues to be ripe for reimagining. For Academy Award-nominated actor Riz Ahmed, Shakespeare’s signature iambic pentameter is akin to a more modern mode of storytelling.
“My English teacher knew that I liked rap music, and he gave me Hamlet,” Ahmed told BroadwayWorld of his introduction to the material. “It blew my mind. The rhythm, the flows, the words, the choice of words, the emotion in it. It felt like rap music.”
Now, years after making that connection, Ahmed is playing the Prince of Denmark himself in a new film version. Only this time, there is no Denmark at all. Instead of the historical setting, the story has been transported to modern-day London, with Hamlet a member of a prominent British South Asian family.
Many of Hamlet’s usual story beats remain mostly intact amid the new setting, including the murder and subsequent ghostly appearance of his father, his uncle’s marriage to his mother, and the play within a play, presented here as a dynamic dance sequence.
Also present is much of Shakespeare’s original text, including a shortened version of the oft-quoted scene beginning with, “To be or not to be.” But, in a thrilling reimagining, this rendition was filmed and performed on a freeway outside of London.
“The logistics were crazy because we knew we wanted [the speech] to feel urgent and confrontational and that often it’s staged in a way that is meditative and self-regarding. And we wanted to change that,” recalls Ahmed.
“But what we didn’t account for is that we would only have two minutes, 42 [seconds] worth of freeway that we could lock off. And this speech usually runs between five and 10 minutes. So actually, we were like, ‘Well, you think this is urgent. This is going to be a hell of a lot more urgent than you’d ever imagined!'”
Ahmed believes Aneil Karia, the director who helmed this version, was able to unlock that rap rhythm for the film that Ahmed was drawn to in the first place. “Shakespeare gets ruined for a lot of people because they have to sit down and read it in class. But imagine sitting down, having to read rap lyrics. It’s not the same experience,” he said. “I’m a staunch believer that, if we change our thinking about what this stuff is, a lot more people would come to it.” Watch BroadwayWorld’s full conversation with Riz Ahmed now.
Directed by Karia from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie, Ahmed is joined onscreen by a cast that includes Timothy Spall as Polonius, Morfydd Clark as Ophelia, Joe Alwyn as Laertes, Sheeba Chaddha as Gertrude, and Art Malik as Claudius.
Hamlet is now playing in U.S. theaters from Vertical.
