Noir Hamlet at Studio Theatre -- The Addison Performing Arts Centre

Noir Hamlet

by John Minigan

directed by Byron Holder

Hamlet, or Little H, has taken over the Elsinore Detective Agency, formerly run by his deceased father. Little H’s nighttime reverie with a bottle at his desk – he is a little glum because he hasn’t yet had a case to solve – is interrupted by the sound of a saxophone playing. This proves to be the ghost of his father, Hamlet, who suggests that he didn’t die by his own hand and that Little H, as a detective, should try to solve the mystery of his death. Little H immediately suspects his uncle Claude, who has taken up with Hamlet’s widow, Gertrude. Attempting to aid Little H in his detective work is Rae, his father’s former secretary and also a chanteuse. As one would expect from a play called “Noir Hamlet”, things do not end well for Little H and his duplicitous family, but there are lots of laughs along the way.