Amr has long been ‘haunted’ by the idea of bringing Hamlet to the stage in his home city of Aden, Yemen. But years of war have forced theatres in the city to close, leaving artists like Amr with limited spaces to perform and restricting access to arts and culture.
Amr reached out to the British Council in Yemen to help make his dream happen. He told us that he wanted to make Hamlet a celebration of Aden, a cultural city with a proud theatrical tradition. He hoped to stage the play in the historic Legislative Council building, a former church built in 1871, and he wanted to perform it in Arabic, in the local Adeni dialect.
"Art, for me, is a way to preserve the culture, heritage and history of a place," Amr explains. "I wanted to preserve our dialect for the next generation."
We put Amr in touch with the Volcano Theatre in Wales and Shakespeare’s Globe in London. They ran online workshops with Amr and his theatre troupe Khaleej Aden, providing advice on everything from playwriting, set design, and costumes to lighting and sound. The workshops gave Amr the connection to international theatre he had been missing and boosted his confidence as a professional theatre maker. He and Khaleej Aden then began tackling the practical challenges of getting Hamlet on stage. Among them, the Legislative Council building was badly damaged and occupied by military forces. But Amr was determined, and with the help of his troupe, the British Council, and local authorities, he was able to transform the building into a performance-ready venue, and even persuaded the troops stationed there to leave.
When the play at last premiered, it was met with a standing ovation and huge enthusiasm on social media. Despite Amr’s fears about how the audience would respond to this "very long, very European play," every single one of the ten performances sold out.
"It was amazing. It made me realize that you can dig deep, you can challenge your audience. It’s given me the bravery to break more walls in future productions." Amr now hopes to stage Hamlet in a bigger venue. Making it happen will be challenging, but the success of the play has left Amr more determined than ever to keep arts and culture alive in Aden.
"We have experienced many struggles, but what has always pushed us is the love of our art. We cannot stay in our homes and just do nothing, because without art, you don’t have a life and soul."