BRAMPTON: Last night at the Rose Brampton was a sheer delight for literary and Shakespeare fans as it was the opening night of the much-anticipated Hamlet. What made this performance a stand-out special was not only the multi-dimensional Canadian cast, but also the star Pakistani-Canadian performer Ahad Raza Mir, from Calgary.
The director, Haysam Kadri, a graduate of the Birmingham Conservatory at the Stratford Festival, selected Ahad as the main actor in his version of Hamlet for sheer dint of Ahad’s passion, initiative, and of course, his stagecraft. Hamlet is arguably Shakespeare’s finest tragedy and a very hard and powerful role to perform. Raza Mir with his passion, emotional range of expression and his impressive display of a Prince wanting vengeance and revenge was formidable.
At the pre-show introduction, Steven Schipper, executive artistic director at The Rose Brampton, put it best quoting Shakespeare, “Brevity is the soul of wit” as is this version of Hamlet – just two hours. It is a modern version that is a Hamlet made for Brampton”. He clarified that this is the best place for an actor like Raza Mir to perform given the warm enveloping reception he got from the South Asian community here.
The evening was well attended by many local members of Parliament. – MP Sonia Sidhu – who read out a felicitation by Hon. PM Trudeau, Hon. Mayor of Brampton Patrick Brown and Councillor Navjit Kaur Brar among others. Schipper said he was grateful to the collaboration by RBC Rising South Asian Stars program and to the director Haysam Kadri for bringing this iconic and unique version of Hamlet to the gem of Brampton, The Rose Theatre.
The entire cast excelled in their roles.Anita Majumdar, another not-to-be-missed star, performed the role of Horatia (original Horatio) and shone brightly. Anita brings with her several international awards and is a talented artist and dancer choreographer as well. King Claudius, Polonia, Gertrude and Ophelia equally enthralled the audience with their performances, as did veteran Shakespeare actor Joel Cochrane, with his multi-role performances as the Ghost of Hamlet’s father, The Priest and the King in the play. Brampton’s very own opera star, Annie Ramos,
made a cameo appearance and stunned audiences with her superb vocal chords and hit notes that no one could have imagined.
Director Haysam Kadri’s vision creates a Hamlet that is full of twists and turns, (including changing Horatio to Horatia) to modernize the drama as well as making it a brief two hours only production. This makes it more attractive and palatable and easy to grasp for younger audiences as well.The ghost of Hamlet’s father also was a theme which was handled with superb creative distinction.
Although the female fans were hungry to meet Raza Mir, dubbed “the poster boy from Pakistan”, he proved more than his acting mettle and left no stone unturned to play a passionate, zealous Hamlet. He said about his performance in Brampton, that he wanted to perform somewhere where he “could get a connection with his audience” and that he did for sure! Raza Mir is well known in the community for his Pakistani TV serials, films, and other ventures with Netflix and BBC. Raza Mir hopes that his acting career and success will bring hope and inspire more from the South Asian diaspora to see and realize what it can bring to pursue your passion.
Haysam Kadri directed the play superbly with his expert vision and the period costumes by designer Caroline Broadley, brought the visual appeal of the Shakespearean era effectively to the mind’s eye. The stage settings and the sound and light effects especially with the appearances of the ghost were on par with a Broadway show! Here’s wishing a successful run for the entire cast and crew and hoping to see this on Broadway in the near future. In the meanwhile as the play is currently running at the Rose Brampton, grab your tickets now to see an amazing performance of Hamlet just in time for the Halloween season!
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What a spectacular show. Thank you for writing such an inspiring review that truly complements the magic of Hamlet and it’s incredible cast and crew. Special congratulations to Ahad for portraying Hamlet with such grace. Truly a pleasure meeting you at the event.