Connections Plays 2012
Prince of Denmark
by Michael Lesslie
Set a decade before the action in Shakespeare’s play, the teenage Hamlet, Ophelia and Laertes rage against the roles handed down by their parents.
The Polonius family is newly arrived in court and jittery about their status, which means the ambitious Laertes is intent on bartering the love of Ophelia for social standing and his own advancement… and he isn’t averse to dreaming of the Kingship for himself.
Set in an imagined 16th Century, the faux-Elizabethan lines and jokes bounce along nodding playfully yet knowledgeably to facts and figures well known from Shakespeare.
Cast size 10 plus ensemble
Age suitability 14-19
Michael Lesslie
Michael Lesslie wrote and directed A Triple Bill of Shame for Hip Street Productions at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2005, he adapted Calderon's The Constant Prince for an international tour, opening the theatrical season at the Bibliotheca Alexandria and transferring to London's Arcola Studio and the Oxford Playhouse. The same year, his play Face Up, Face Down was awarded the Cameron Mackintosh Award for New Writing by Patrick Marber, and he co-wrote the short film Heavy Metal Drummer, which was nominated for a BAFTA.
In 2007 Michael completed another short film, Airlock, or How to Say Goodbye in Space, (nominated for a Shine Award at the 2008 Bradford International Film Festival). He then adapted Brian Moore's Booker Prize-nominated novel Lies of Silence as a feature film, and later that year his adaptation of the film Swimming with Sharks (Vaudeville Theatre). In 2008, he was nominated as one of Screen International's ‘Stars of Tomorrow'.
Michael's play Trammel was part of National Theatre Connections 2009 and his adaptation of Chris Ayres' memoir War Reporting for Cowards was voted third on the 2008 Brit List of the most exciting screenplays awaiting production in Europe. In 2010, his play Prince of Denmark enjoyed a sell-out run in the National Theatre's Cottesloe, running in conjunction with Nicholas Hytner's production of Hamlet.
His new original works include And Then The Dark; the feature films Haven; The Hellfire; and Close To The Sun. He is currently working on an adaptation of Richard North Patterson's novel Exile for a feature film whilst developing three new plays.
