Crownless – Voila! Theatre Festival / Etcetera Theatre, London

Crownless puts a new spin on Hamlet, incorporating text from the original and from feminist writers. Clever and fast-paced, this is a worthwhile watch.

Crownless

I’ve written previously about how I feel I’ve seen enough Hamlets now.  He is paralysed by inaction.  He’s not nice to Ophelia (or pretty much anyone).  We get it.*  This year, I have learned that I do, on the other hand, have an appetite for reworkings of Hamlet that do away with the Dane himself.  A few months ago I saw Hamstrung at the Glitch and loved it.  That one was a reworking of the Hamlet ghost story through the character of Yorick.  And then last night I saw Crownless, on at Etcetera Theatre as part of Voila! Theatre Festival (and my last Voila! outing for this year).

Crownless, written and performed by Ashley Amodeo, finds another fresh angle through which to rework Hamlet.  It’s told partly from the perspective of the ghost of Hamlet’s father, and partly from the perspective of a gender-swapped Hamlet.  There’s still a murder, and a usurping of a crown, but the crown is more metaphorical.  And the ghost haunts a coat.  It makes sense if you see it.

What I liked about Crownless was the slicing and dicing of lines from Hamlet placed into new contexts.  It doesn’t always come off: our Hamlet had a much more ambivalent relationship with her father than Ophelia, some of whose speeches she borrows.  I didn’t always think they hung well on this new character. Then again that could have been my preconceptions.  But overall I found that listening to the lines in a reworked context made me do just that: actually listen.  I had a newfound appreciation for them, and found the overall premise clever.

*For a much less flippant and more erudite appraisal, see the director’s note in the programme for Crownless. “In 2025, while interpretations change, the fundamental challenge for any actor inhabiting Hamlet remains: how to embody the raw, universal emotions of grief, shock, and the crushing weight of a terrible command.”

Shakespeare and the Feminist Canon

I also found Amodeo an engaging performer.  She frequently delivers lines straight to the audience, bringing us in close as she dashes through the story.  Crownless is physical, and fast: given it was a little shorter than the advertised running time could that erudite director Lise Olson perhaps have given some scenes a little more space? On the other hand, the pace does make it feel whip-smart. It’s funny, too.

Also very smart is the pulling in of feminist writings to complement the sliced-and-diced Shakespeare. The programme tells me Amodeo has included work by the likes of Leland Bardwell, Sylvia Plath, Denise Levertov, and Emily Dickinson. I have to say, I didn’t catch all of these as I watched Crownless (I read the programme afterwards), so the more pointed feminist references (like a well-placed newspaper) felt like germs of an idea to be expanded upon. I take the blame there, I clearly need to brush up on the feminist canon.  On a more domestic scale, Hamlet’s father’s posthumous realisations about his shortcomings as a father are witty and well-observed.

As I hope these various musings on Crownless indicate, I think Amodeo is a writer and performer worth watching, and Crownless a work with a lot of potential.  I found it charming, and a smart take on a classic.  Plus I’ll think twice before I next put a coat on, lest I too be compelled to revenge a slain family member.  

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Crownless on until 22 November 2025 as part of Voila! Theatre Festival.  More info and tickets here.