The late- and post-Soviet trials of Hamlet in song, ballet, and opera. Issue 1 (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Assay, Michelle
• Other Names: Calvi Lisanna guest-editor.; Pennacchia Maddalena guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Cahiers élisabéthains. Volume 108:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 35
• Page End: 52
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: Ballet -- music -- opera -- political allegory -- Soviet and post-Soviet era -- Georgia; Ballet -- musique -- opéra -- allégorie politique -- ère soviétique et post-soviétique -- Georgie; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism -- Book reviews -- Periodicals; 820.9003
• DOI: 10.1177/01847678221092791
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0184-7678

Abstract

With the (re-)tightening of censorship, a proliferation of subtexts and Aesopian messages may be detected in late-Soviet Shakespeare adaptations in general and Hamlet in particular. This article examines representative cases of responses to Hamlet in the late- and post-Soviet eras, taking the genres of song, ballet, and opera/theatre, and broadly mapping them on to the topics of, respectively, Individualism, Convention, and Politics. In setting forth a narrative of Hamlet adaptations in these periods, this article shows that the tension between individual creative activity and politico-cultural climate was and continues to be more complex and multifaceted than might be predicted.