The Lion King did it, Star Wars did it, and even the Chris Farley vehicle Tommy Boy did it. Now, one of the most ambitious retellings of a Shakespearean classic, Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark, is coming to The Q in Queanbeyan early next month.
Created by, written by, and starring Melbourne children’s comedy duo Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly, aka The Listies, the pair have been making comedy shows for families for over a decade.
In creating Prince of Skidmark, the duo enlisted the help of playwright Declan Green, and for the production they’ve brought in actor Monica Kumar, who plays stage manager ‘Fran’.
“It’s like two idiots and their stage manager attempt one of the most complicated and highest works of western canon in an hour,” Richard said.
Matt described the work as “comedy first and Shakespeare second”.
“It’s a show about people trying to do a show, two clowns trying to take on something enormous, failing at it but having a really good time,” he said.
In creating Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark, the team have set out to produce an interactive, bright and colourful production complete with a set, costumes and props that fit the bill.
“The show starts as Shakespeare and becomes this neon-coloured show set a billion years in the future with a dinosaur costume,” Richard said.
Treating children as ‘cultural citizens’
Matt explained that as they started working on the play with playwright Declan Green, they did so with the guiding principle of “what would a kid do if they were writing this show”, which saw them add dinosaurs, ninjas, and a giant pair of dirty underpants, just to name a few.
“It seemed like a really funny thing to do to take one of the most serious and respected plays in the western theatre tradition and hand it over to two clowns,” Matt said.
“What we wanted to do with the show was to show kids that it’s fun to make up your own stories as well.”
Richard said their physical, vaudeville style brings a silliness that the entire audience laughs at, rather than relying on double entendre jokes for adults.
“Our aim is to make everyone in the audience laugh, everyone pays for a ticket and should enjoy the show,” he said.
“One of the values we have is kids should get to consume the same art as adults and it should be treated as seriously and with the same effort as well,” Matt said. “They are cultural citizens.”
Over the course of the show, the cast will call on the audience for help, letting the kids in and allowing them to contribute.
“By the end, in the finale, we work toward a thing where the whole audience feel they’re in the show,” Richard said.
The duo sees it as their mission to engage a younger audience in theatre; they praised The Q for adopting a similar vision with their programming.
“I think it’s very rare that you grow up to be an adult and go ‘I like going to theatre’, I think it’s something you go to as a kid and grow up with,” Matt said.
“That’s why we’re motivated to do what we do.
“Families have had a very tough covid and it feels really nourishing for everyone to come and share a laugh together.”
Having previously lived in Canberra for four years working at Questacon, Matt was in a band with The Q’s artistic director, Jordan Best.
“We booked it then I ran into Jordan, and she said you are coming to my theatre,” he said.
Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark is at The Q, Queanbeyan 5-7 July; theq.net.au
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