Nadeem Phillip Umar-Khitab plays Hamlet in Bard on the Beach's Hamlet.
With productions of Shakespeare's famous tragedy hitting stages across Canada, Qasim Khan, Praneet Akilla and Nadeem Phillip Umar-Khitab each take on the doomed prince of Denmark.In Toronto alone, at least three productions of Shakespeare's classic tragedy have played in 2024, including a dance adaptation of the play in April and a solo version of the work in May.
CBC Arts spoke with three of the actors jumping into Shakespeare's most coveted lead role. In Toronto, Qasim Khan plays the prince of Denmark for Canadian Stage's annualthat reimagines Denmark in the Roaring '20s, complete with sequin-spangled flappers.
"On a very superficial level, it's just cool costumes," continued Akilla. "But on a deeper level, we're looking at incredibly high stakes while people are celebrating around Hamlet. It's a lot of fun as an actor."is the ability to see the show with views of English Bay. According to Umar-Khitab, the outdoor nature of the production has created some memorable mid-show moments.
comes from the play's vast history, one that predates even Shakespeare. "There was some original Hamlet "I think it's maybe a bit of a coincidence," said Akilla. "But it goes to show how much progress has been made in theatre, film and TV. We can see how much the needle has moved forward in terms of representation … I'd love to get to a point where, for instance, we can use my South Asian heritage as a jumping-off point to talk about other issues."again. We've seen it so many times.
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