I saw Pan Pan’s brilliant Playing the Dane at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2010 and loved it! If you’re going to see it, some basic knowledge of the story of Hamlet will help you enjoy it because it doesn’t really tell the whole story. But it does lots of other things instead, such as the first act which consists of auditions for the the part of Hamlet. After seeing the three auditions, the audience are then asked to vote for their favourite and the winner plays Hamlet in the second act! It deconstructions the play from a number of different angles; from the actors playing the eponymous Dane to an academic interpretation of the play. It is a different take on Hamlet but it’s very entertaining, the set is beautiful and there’s an actual Great Dane in the cast!

It’s on in the Black Box theatre in Galway tonight and tomorrow, tickets available from the Town Hall Theatre. Go see it!