THE CONCEPT 
Our version of Hamlet is made up of twelve actors playing twelve roles.
Amongst these actors and roles we have six pairings, for example: Hamlet & Laertes, Ophelia & Horatio.
Each actor learns both roles, and at the start of every show, they flip a coin to see which role they'll be playing that evening.
This leads to 64 different possible combinations, virtually guaranteeing that every performance will be unique.

Hamlet: Heads or Tails was born of a desire to take a prominent part of the theatrical canon and, as a company, give it our personal spin.

We’re interested in the concept of duality. Everyone inhabits two selves: the social face you wear in public and the private, personal face that few get to see.

Hamlet offers the perfect opportunity to explore these themes, and present a familiar piece of theatre in an unconventional and exciting way.

THE VENUE
Loud Mouth Theatre Co. is joining with the Tasmanian Theatre Company to embrace the magic of Pop-Up Theatre: temporary performance venues set up in unconventional spaces. Hamlet - Heads or Tails will be taking place at Pop-Up Theatre 1, Hobart's newest theatrical venue. A re-purposed shopfront on Murray St, it will be operating for only two seasons, before being demolished completely. What better way to celebrate and highlight the transient nature of theatre?

THE SEASON
Hamlet - Heads or Tails will run for a limited season of seven performances, from September the 12th to the 20th. 

THE TEAM
The cast and crew for Hamlet - Heads or Tails is made up from a mix of Tasmanian theatre veterans, fresh-faced newcomers and everyone in between. 
Simone Dobber, Emma Skalicky, Sara Pensalfini, Bridget Eltham, Ellen Kate, Zachary Lennon, Justan Wagner, David Bannister, Luke Visentin and Jared Goldsmith are guided by the steady directing hand of Matt Wilson, and headed by Loud Mouth's own Campbell McKenzie and Maeve MacGregor as Hamlet/Laertes. 
Sound design will be handled by the inestimable skill of Heath Brown, with Bryce Van Get handling lighting design.

Taking a venue not intended for live performance and turning it into a temporary theatre allows us to explore the way theatre interacts with and is influenced by the space in which it exists.

However, this opportunity comes with a unique set of costs and challenges, on top of what would be encountered in a traditional theatre.

Equipment for lighting and sound will need to be hired for the duration of the season, and items such as chairs, curtains and carpets will need to be sourced.

Adequate heating and bathroom facilities will need to be provided for.

There are also a number of legal requirements that need to be seen to, including licensing and insurance. The majority of these, unfortunately, cost money.

Not all of the hurdles faced by choosing to perform our production in a non-traditional space are financial.

A space that has not been used previously for any sort of performance lacks the presence in the public consciousness that an established venue has.

Much of this will need to be built up through our marketing campaign, which will need to precisely target our target demographic.

The very core of our show, the coin toss, obviously doubles the lines every actor needs to learn, and adds an interesting but confusing complexity to the blocking and character relationships in the play.