Hamlet

A Kingdom in Mourning. A Son Obsessed. A Revenge Set in Motion.

Love turns deadly and power corrupts all in Hamlet — a gripping dance drama by international choreographer Leo Mujić, where every choice carries a cost.

Set to the sweeping music of Tchaikovsky and Saint‑Saëns, Mujić’s Hamlet transforms Shakespeare’s immortal characters into a powerful physical language, where classical ballet fuses with visceral, contemporary movement. Through ensemble‑driven choreography, the drama surges and fractures, creating a work that is raw, unrelenting, and devastatingly human.

_{Image credit: Soloist Edison Manuel and Artists of Queensland Ballet performing Hamlet. Photography by David Kelly.}_{The recorded music of Hamlet is engineered using the highest quality sound and features the Russian National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and Queensland Symphony Orchestra.}

Venue

Talbot Theatre Thomas Dixon Centre

406 Montague Road West End QLD 4101

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Credits

Leo Mujić

Choreographer

Bálint Rauscher

Assistant Choreographer & Dramaturg

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Music

Camille Saint-Saëns

Music

Stefano Katunar

Set Designer

Manuela Paladin Šabanović

Costume Designer

Aleksandar Čavlek

Lighting Designer

Svebor Zgurić

Sound Engineer

Ben Hughes

Revival Lighting Designer

#Ticket Options

Groups

Adult groups of 6+ receive an additional free-of-charge ticket with every 6 tickets purchased.

To request a group booking call 07 3013 6666 or email our ticketing team.

School groups and Dance Studio groups

School groups and Dance Studio groups receive an additional free-of-charge Adult ticket with every 10 student tickets purchased.

To request a school group booking call 07 3013 6666 or email our ticketing team.

MobTix

Queensland Ballet offers Mob Tickets for First Nations Audiences. Mob Tickets offer discounted access for First Nations peoples to selected Queensland Ballet performances.

Plan your visit

Everything you need to know about the Thomas Dixon Centre's Talbot Theatre before you visit. Make sure you're prepared so you know where to eat, park, and how to get there.

#Reviews

"Get thee to a performance."
- InDaily

“Choose any feeling: love, madness, vengeance, and you’ll experience it in Queensland Ballet’s stunning reimagined Hamlet, currently at the Thomas Dixon Centre.”
- The Scoop

"Brisbane doesn’t get productions like this often. When it does, you go."
- The Urbanite

"If you have never experienced ballet before, make Hamlet your first. This is the kind of production that reminds us why live performance matters and why great storytelling transcends words."
- Hush Hush Biz

"Leo Mujic’s condensed reimagining of Hamlet for Queensland Ballet combines poetic eloquence and visceral power in a world-class production."
- InDaily

"Queensland Ballet’s Hamlet combines world-class dancing, striking design and timeless storytelling to create an experience that no streaming service can replicate. This is Shakespeare at his most haunting, most beautiful and most alive."
- The Scoop

"a world-class production."
- InDaily

"Set to familiar and lesser-known pieces by Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saens, Mujic’s wide-ranging aesthetic vocabulary is masterful. He uses elongated and sweeping classical lines contrastingly, generating uplifting propulsive vibrancy, collective force and order, and delicate tenderness and reflection."
- InDaily

"Brisbane doesn’t get productions like this often. When it does, you go"
- The Urbanite

"Croatian choreographer Leo Mujić brings the Australian premiere of his acclaimed Hamlet to Queensland Ballet — a production that is assured, ambitious, and already one of the most significant works staged in this city in years."
- InDaily

"Hamlet by Queensland Ballet is shakespeare at its most beautiful"
- The Scoop

"this is an unmissable retelling of Hamlet."
- The Scoop

"being so close to the dancers, seeing their expressions, hearing the movement of fabric and the pointe shoes fluttering across the floor, and feeling the smoky haze move through the air is an exceptional experience."
- The Scoop

"the magic of Shakespeare is only metres away."
- The Scoop

#The Story of Hamlet

Act I

Grieving the death of his father, Prince Hamlet is shaken further when his mother, Queen Gertrude, hastily marries his uncle Claudius, now king of Denmark. As the court celebrates, Hamlet encounters the ghost of his dead father who reveals he was murdered by Claudius and demands revenge.

Consumed by doubt and rage, Hamlet’s behaviour grows erratic, pushing away his beloved Ophelia and alarming the court. To confirm the truth, Hamlet stages a play that reenacts the murder — and Claudius’ guilty reaction exposes him, but Hamlet hesitates to take action.

In a heated confrontation with his mother, Hamlet mistakenly kills Polonius. The ghost returns to warn him, while Gertrude, unable to see it, believes her son has lost his mind. Hamlet departs into darkness, the tragedy accelerating toward inevitable ruin.

Act II

Hamlet hides Polonius’ body as Claudius orders a search through the castle. Fearing for his life, Claudius sends Hamlet to England under guard, secretly arranging his execution.

On the journey, Hamlet uncovers the plot and turns it against Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Meanwhile, Ophelia descends into madness after her father’s death and drowns herself, devastating her brother Laertes, who swears revenge.

Returning to Denmark, Hamlet reflects on life and death in a graveyard, only to be confronted by Ophelia’s funeral. He reveals his love for her and clashes with Laertes. Claudius and Laertes conspire to kill Hamlet through a staged duel, using poison as their weapon.

At court, betrayal unfolds rapidly: Gertrude drinks from a poisoned cup, Laertes and Hamlet wound each other with a poisoned blade, and Gertrude dies. With his final strength, Hamlet kills Claudius and charges Horatio to tell his story. As Hamlet dies, Fortinbras arrives and claims the throne, bringing the tragedy to its close.

#Characters

Prince of Denmark

Ophelia

Polonius' daughter and Hamlet's love interest

Gertrude

Hamlet's mother and the Queen of Denmark

Claudius

Hamlet's uncle and the new King of Denmark

Ghost

The spirit of Hamlet's father and the former King of Denmark

Polonius

The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius' court and the father of Laertes and Ophelia

Laertes

Polonius' son and Ophelia's brother

#Behind the Production

About the Costumes

With Costume Designer, Manuela Paladin Šabanović

"Hamlet is an emotionally dark and politically layered work, and that complexity strongly shaped my costume approach. I wanted the costumes to reflect a world that is simultaneously elegant and decaying — a court built on appearances, repression and hidden tensions. The palette, silhouettes and textures all carry a sense of emotional weight. Rather than presenting purely historical costumes, I was interested in creating an atmosphere where power, grief, manipulation and isolation feel immediate and less concentrated in historical context.”