On Some Calabrian Theatrical Adaptations of Hamlet: Saverio La Ruina, Ernesto Orrico, Mana Chuma, Max Mazzotta

In the Introduction to Shakespeare and Millennial Fiction (2018), Andrew James Hartley recalls that when we rewrite Shakespeare, we rewrite ourselves. This article focuses on some deconstructive theatrical adaptations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by a group of Calabrian playwrights in the first two decades of the 2000s: Saverio La Ruina’s Amleto ovvero Cara mammina (Hamlet, or Dear Mummy, 2002) and Kitsch Hamlet (2004); Ernesto Orrico’s Hamlet in Pieces (2024); Mana Chuma’s Searching for Hamlet (2025); and Max Mazzotta’s Giangurgolo. Principe di Danimarca (Giangurgolo, Prince of Denmark, 2005). Indeed, it is amazing how deeply both Shakespeare and his tragedy of the Danish prince resonate with these playwrights as they experiment with the dramatic form and fight to involve the audience in the process of reconstructing, recognising, and dealing with the characters, themes, and meanings of Shakespeare’s (macro)text. Respect, mockery, curiosity, and creativity, as well as the metatheatrical discourse linked with the common denominator of the Commedia dell’Arte, seem to play a great role in this prolific conjunction. Above all, it is interesting how they manage to touch upon, develop, and critique important and sensitive elements of their own identities—both personal and regional—with irony and sarcasm.