There are no soliloquies in this Hamlet. No lengthy monologues, no declarations of love or anguish spoken aloud. Just bodies, light, and the unmistakable weight of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy — retold entirely through the visceral art form of dance.
DanceHouse, in partnership with Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival and Théâtre la Seizième, presents the BC premiere of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark at the Vancouver Playhouse March 18–21, 2026. The production — created by two of Canada’s most celebrated artistic minds, choreographer Guillaume Côté and director Robert Lepage — has already added an additional performance due to popular demand.
For DanceHouse Artistic and Executive Director Jim Smith, bringing this production to Vancouver felt urgent from the moment he first saw it. Watching it in Montreal in February 2025, he describes feeling “genuinely jubilant” — certain it was a work Vancouver audiences needed to experience. “The collaboration between Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté brings together two extraordinary artistic voices,” says Smith. “Lepage’s work has not been seen in Vancouver for some time, and it feels especially meaningful to welcome him back through a creation that so powerfully reconsiders Shakespeare through movement, invention, and contemporary form.”
Côté, who will reprise his role as Hamlet in Vancouver, leads an all-star cast that breathes life into Shakespeare’s most iconic characters — Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern — through choreography that weaves together classical, contemporary, and street-dance influences. Accompanied by an evocative original score by John Gzowski, the production strips the play back to its emotional core, trusting the body to say what words cannot.
The result is transfixing and surprisingly intimate. Ophelia’s descent, Hamlet’s inner torment, the fatal final duel — each canonical moment is reimagined through gesture and movement, supported by Simon Rossiter’s pools of golden light, blood-red velvet drapery, and occasional surtitles that function as a kind of Greek chorus. The visual landscape is spare but striking, leaving room for audiences to bring their own meaning to the story.
Whether you are a lifelong Shakespeare devotee, a dance enthusiast, or simply curious about what theatre can be when words fall away entirely, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark promises an experience that is as thought-provoking as it is visually arresting.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is on stage from March 18–21, 2026 at the Vancouver Playhouse. Tickets and information are available at dancehouse.ca.
Last modified: March 15, 2026
