ELSINORE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2023

We are very pleased to present 2 fantastic outdoor performances on the annual Elsinore Shakespeare Festival from the 3.- 13. of August. 

This year, the performances are in Danish and German respectively.
The German performance plays with Danish and English surtitles.

PROGRAM
THE TEMPEST
3 – 5 August 8pm
(In Danish and no surtitles)

MACBETH IN CONCERT
9 – 13 August 9pm
(In German with surtitles in  Danish and English)

THE TEMPEST
WE ARE SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON.
AND OUR LITTLE LIFE IS ROUNDED WITH A SLEEP.

SHAKES is a cycling theater that on cargo bikes, laden with undone wigs, recycled-fashion costumes, and far too much make-up, seduces its audience, with beautiful words, sweaty dancing, raw music and lots of beautiful singing!

The Tempest is Shakespeare on acid, an adventurous comedy, filled with wisdom, grotesque humor and a lot of wondrous creatures. A wizard, a jester, an air-spirit, a wild and deformed slave named Caliban, half-man half-monster, son of a witch and the Devil himself.

The Tempest is a wild and supernatural story about possessiveness, revenge and hatred, love and forgiveness. At the same time also an allegory of European and colonialist tyrant.

ON STAGE
Marie Dalsgaard, Anders Budde Christensen, Sophie Marie Jeppesen, Ari Alexander

MACBETH IN CONCERT

The German band Woods of Birnam with their frontman, actor and musician Christian Friedel, presents a spectacular and poignant hybrid of a concert and theater performance based on Shakespeare’s classic.

A bleak tale of Macbeth and his self-created nightmare, entirely tailored for one actor/singer and his band. An intense drama, where everything happens in his head, supported by a strong video and lighting design, which, like a kind of architectural light show, enchants Kronborg under the night sky.

In front of the eyes of the audience, the power-hungry Scotsman is eaten up by his own guilt, as a consequence of his own fateful decisions.

The German world star Christian Friedel will perform at the Elsinore Shakespeare Festival on August 9 – 13. His latest international and critically acclaimed film The Zone of Interest premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2023, winning both the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Award. This autumn sees the season premiere of the German neo-noir TV series BABYLON BERLIN with Christian Friedel in a leading role in this critically acclaimed TV production created by the famous Hollywood director Tom Tykwer.

ON STAGE
Christian Friedel, Onno Dreier, Philipp Makolies, Christian Grochau, Uwe Pasora.

PICNIC AND THEATER UNDER THE OPEN SKY
If you have plans for a theater trip to Kronborg in the lovely summer weather – order one of our delicious picnic boxis for both adults and children – just to take with you when you arrive.

For many, a visit to the traditional Elsinore Shakespeare Festival is associated with a cozy picnic on Kronborg’s beautiful ramparts with family and friends or colleagues. Here you can enjoy a nice picnic together at the Princess’s Bastion with a formidable view of Sweden, Øresund and Elsinore. Afterwards you can step directly into Shakespeare’s universe, where you first have the opportunity to experience a free and entertaining Shakespeare Intro – before the highlight of the evening – the theater performance itself on the spectacular outdoor stage VOLDGRAVEN located in the water and with Kronborg as a majestic backdrop.

HAMLET/OPHELIA PICNIC BOX

• Hamlet picnic box (non-vegetarian). DKK 225,00 per pers. Minimum 2 pers. = DKK 450,00
• Ophelia picnic box (vegetarian). DKK 175,00 per pers. Minimum 2 pers. = DKK 350,00

Picnic boxis must be pre-ordered at least 1 day (24 hours) before the theater performance.
Read more here.

FREE SHAKESPEARE INTRODUCTION
Every night before the performance at the Elsinore Shakespeare festival, there is a free Shakespeare intro. It is a short and entertaining little approach to what Shakespeare and Kronborg have to do with each other. It starts at 19.15 in Danish/English for STORMEN and at 20.15 for MACBETH.

If you buy tickets to one of the performances at the Elsinore Shakespeare Festival, you will receive more info about the intro in the info email you receive prior to your visit.

ABOUT ELSINORE SHAKESPARE FESTIVAL
The Elsinore Shakespeare Festival is an open-air theatre where performing arts, cultural heritage and nature unite and create a unique experience. The festival stage is built across the moat, where Kronborg Castle acts as a backdrop. The ever-changing Danish weather, the screams of the seagulls and the twinkling of the stars are all respected co-players, ensuring that each performance is an almost magical experience. Every night before the performance you can enjoy a pre-booked picnic at Kronborg Castle’s scenic surroundings.

For over 200 years, Shakespeare’s characters have unfolded themselves at Kronborg in everything from revenge tragedies to romantic comedies, and every year in August you can experience world-class artists and theatre companies in both Danish and English continuing the tradition, when HamletScenen presents the Elsinore Shakespeare Festival. HamletScenen has since 2008 managed the legacy of the world’s oldest Shakespearean theatre tradition, which was founded in 1816 right here at Hamlet’s own castle, Kronborg.

With the Elsinore Shakespeare Festival, we are at the forefront of the celebration of William Shakespeare’s writing. The performances presented are all staged and performed by some of the most acclaimed and innovative artists and companies of the time. These are original and surprising works, but they all share the recognizable and unmistakable touch of Shakespeare unfolding through the themes to the enjoyment of the audience.