I hate Hamlet

Musical performance in two acts by Maxim Koshevarov and Alexander Maev

based on the play of the same name by Paul Rudnick

Libretto and adaptation by Igor Shevchuk

Stage director - Olga Prikhudaylova

Musical director and conductor - Alexey Nefedov

Set Designer - Pavel Petrushova

Choreographer - Dmitry Orlov

Lighting designer — Valentin Bakoyan

Animation artists — Anastasia Andreeva, Ksenia Kalinina

Director of stage fights - Maria Dobrovolskaya

Director's assistant - Vera Dombrovskaya

Choreographer assistant — Ivan Dremin

Assistant music director and vocal teacher - Elena Bulanova

What could be worse for an actor than, once on stage in front of a crowded hall, to completely forget the text? It turns out that it’s much scarier to get the role that you have dreamed of all your life, to come face to face with the ghost of the artist who played it best, and to understand that it is impossible to surpass him. This is exactly what happens to the hero of the most famous and popular play by the American playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick "I hate Hamlet", which formed the basis of the new production of the Musical Comedy Theatre.

Written in 1991, it has been repeatedly staged on the stage of Broadway and widely around the world.
Igor Shevchuk, a well-known children's writer and author of scripts for the popular Russian projects Smeshariki and Fixies, adapted the play for the Russian musical theater. Naturally, the plot outline, written in the context of "overseas" cultural codes, not always clear to the viewer in Russia, has undergone some changes. Thus, the name of the legend of the American theater - John Barrymore, who became famous for playing the roles of the Shakespearean repertoire, is hardly familiar to the Russian audience. Only a few will be able to associate him with the name of the popular modern film actress Drew Barrymore - by the way, his granddaughter. So the hero got a different name. And the action has been moved from distant New York to the historical center of St. Petersburg.

The plot move remained unchanged, in which two famous actors of the old and new schools find themselves on the same territory, but on opposite sides of the barricades. One - personifying the high style of the theater stage. The second - embodying everything related to the serial film business, sharpened by typicality and rapid production.

Shakespeare's dilemma "To be or not to be?" takes a new turn in the theater of the 21st century: should you remain hostage to popularity and financial success by accepting another offer to play in a passing series, or break this illusory circle of success and return to real art? These are the questions that the protagonist of the production decides with himself - a young artist who is quite familiar with the "copper pipes" of fame.
Olga Prikhudaylova is working on the premiere, whose significant acting, directorial and choreographic works were created in Moscow productions of the musicals Chicago, Metro, the TODD song opera, on the stage of the Praktika Theater, etc.

Olga Prikhudaylova: “I really want to make a performance about real masters of their craft, who have enough self-irony. After all, then we will no longer see only actors and their heroes on stage, but we will see people who share with us the experience of their lives, in which there was everything: laughter and tears, love and hate. We have a strong cast, and each of the participants is a person in the proposed circumstances. Therefore, the plot twists and turns will be interesting and understandable to anyone, even the most inexperienced viewer.

At the same time, we are creating a performance in which the notorious "fourth wall" between the stage and the audience will be abolished - each spectator will be involved in what he will see on stage. Yes, we will open the curtain on what is called acting, but we will also show that the viewer is not an outside observer, but an equal participant in the events.