Few names resonate more powerfully in the world of theater than that of Hamlet, Shakespeare's youthful Prince of Denmark. In whatever language, somewhere in the world right now, an actor is likely embarking on that famously challenging soliloquy beginning "To be or not to be . . ."
For the Japanese director Yukio Ninagawa, that resonance appears particularly visceral, as the 69-year-old artistic director of Theatre Cocoon in Shibuya and also of the Saitama Arts Centre has now risen to the "Hamlet" challenge three times in the last 10 years. In 1995, he staged the play with the prince played by Yukihiro Sanada, focusing on the implied incest with his mother, Gertrude, played by Mariko Kaga. The production met huge acclaim both in Japan and Britain, where audiences were astonished that an Asian was tackling their Bard with such freshness and elan.
Then, last year at Theatre Cocoon, he created a decidedly teenage version of Hamlet, focusing -- through the role of 21-year-old Tatsuya Fujiwara -- not so much on the mother complex, but more on his dreams and ideals of youth being despoiled by self-serving family elders.