What is it about "Hamlet," Shakespeare's most famous drama, that obsesses Yukio Ninagawa, Japanese theater's global standard-bearer? The innovative director has already staged the play four times -- and his fifth take on the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark opened last week at the Bunkamura Theater Cocoon in Shibuya, with eager fans queuing round the block for tickets.
His first stab at the tragedy was back in 1978 at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo. Ninagawa's leading man was celebrity actor Mikijiro Hira, then in his mid-40s prime, and the director homed in on the power games inherent to the plot. After a second shot at this Danish tale tailored, in contrast, for a tiny Tokyo venue, along came Ninagawa's third version, with Hiroyuki Sanada in the title role and Mariko Kaga magnificent as Gertrude, queenly object of the prince's mother complex.
This version, also presented without any English translation but to great acclaim at London's Barbican Theatre in 1998, focused not on power games, but on Hamlet's distress at his mother's remarriage to his uncle and the dilemma over his powerlessness. This striking production notably featured visible "dressing rooms" elevated at the back of the stage area. This allowed the audience to see those not currently onstage acting in commentary, often as shadows behind a curtain, in a way that powerfully brought out Hamlet's inner turmoil as he battled looming insanity.