All the world’s a stage, and all men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances – and some even wear cool Steampunk costumes and carry a bunch of retro-futuristic weapons.
Yes, Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been given the righteous Victorian Steampunk treatment by New Zealand set designer Karl Hart and director Ange Newell.
According to Newell, she had never even heard of the look until Hart suggested a massive Steampunk makeover of the set, props and costumes.
“We were talking about about the set and I said it needed to be quite gritty and dark and industrial. He immediately conjured up the idea of Steampunk as a design quality,” Newell told the Southland Times.
“I’ve edited the script so the essential lines remain. Our emphasis is on telling the story of Hamlet and to keep people’s interest with short scenes that hopefully have the same impact.”
Steampunk is often described as a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that gained rising popularity during the 1980s and early 1990s.
It typically depicts an era or world where steam power is the dominate form of energy, such as 19th century, or Victorian-era Britain.
