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Elsinore: Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth.
Elsinore: Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth.
Oct 7, 2024 5:33 PM

Author:Sebastian Baczkiewicz,John Light,John Heffernan,Full Cast

Elsinore: Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth.

How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare's Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery.

Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930s, Elsinore is a prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This compelling new drama imagines the turbulence of the Danish court, in a world where Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small empire around the Baltic that it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air.

In this uneasy setting, Elsinore delves into the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother Claudius: one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. Realism meets with moments of otherworldliness as the story unravels, taking in pirates and magic, rebellion and betrayal.

A dark, exciting drama that touches on the events and people in Shakespeare's play, and brings us to the moment where Hamlet begins.

From the extraordinary imagination of Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series.

Duration: 3 hours approx.

Reviews

Juicy!

—— New!

Nothing is off limits

—— Reveal

Excellent critical writing ... Biskind's pastiche of right-wing paranoia is spot on

—— Irish Times

Biskind's wide-ranging arguments offer considerable food for thought

—— London Review of Books

The Sky is Falling! is not only insanely readable, it demonstrates how the way for Trump and all kinds of fundamentalists was paved years ago by apparently apolitical popular culture. This is a book about the seismic change at the very heart of today's society, and a book for all those who want to know exactly what a mess we're in.

—— Slavoj Žižek

Peter Biskind's kaleidoscopic deep dive into the symbiotic relationship between the narratives of popular entertainment and our political culture had me talking out loud to myself. You'll never look at your favorite movies and TV shows the same way again. And you shouldn't.

—— Steven Soderbergh

Funny, intelligent and frightening ... What happens when pop turns to pulp? When "nothing entertains but disaster?" When "democracy has all but dissolved in the acid rain of money?" Read this marvellous book and find the answers

—— Michael Wood

A breathless compendium of storylines and audacious analysis ... touching on worthwhile questions about how film and TV shape our sense of history and how the world works. Pop culture has become pulp culture... which superhero will come to our rescue?

—— Times

The only thing better than seeing a good movie is reading what Peter Biskind has to say about it. Who else can explicate the hidden politics of movies and make you laugh out loud at the same time?

—— Barbara Ehrenreich

The great chronicler of Hollywood in the late twentieth century turns his critical eye to the cinema and television of the twenty first. Essential reading

—— Colin MacCabe

A bold, witty, and brilliantly argued analysis of the role pop culture has played in the rise of American extremism

—— Ruth Reichl

Your book was . . . like a bag of pot, with me saying, 'I'm not gonna smoke.' But I was insatiable

—— Quentin Tarantino on EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS
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