H2O: Hamlet and Ophelia – Character Building and Acting Dramaturgy

On January 18-19, 2025, the Danish Cultural Institute Türkiye supported Carolina Pizarro from Odin Theater in Denmark in bringing her innovative acting methods to Türkiye. In collaboration with Vajra Theater, she conducted her Character Construction and Acting Dramaturgy/Theatre Anthropology course at ÇakSTÜDYO in Istanbul. She worked closely with participants, sharing psychophysical acting exercises as a tool for character creation.

As part of the program, the course explored Shakespeare’s Hamlet, focusing on the characters Hamlet and Ophelia. Using water as a symbolic anchor, participants performed monologues from these two characters, experimenting with their different interpretations of them. This process was aimed at exploring the boundary between dreams and reality, through the symbolic anchoring of water.

As the Danish Cultural Institute Türkiye, we were delighted to foster artistic collaboration between Denmark and Türkiye. By offering this workshop to Turkish performers, we facilitated insights into innovative acting methods championed by a Danish performer.

We were happy to support and collaborate with Vajra Theater and ÇakSTÜDYO in our mission to strengthen cultural ties between Denmark and Türkiye. After the two-day program, participants shared that they felt inspired and enlightened by Carolina Pizarro’s teachings.