To thine own self be true-blue: Bogan Shakespeare to bring Hamlet to Narrogin

A localised retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet presented by BS Productions’ Bogan Shakespeare group is headed to Narrogin in October for an evening of flannel, thongs and theatre. The audience is encouraged to wear their best bogan threads on the night and a prize will go to Narrogin’s best dressed bogan and bogan-themed table. Creator, writer, performer and director Dean Lovatt said that bogan culture is well suited to convey Shakespearean theatre. “In Shakespeare’s dramas and also his comedies there are a lot of over-reactions,” he said. “People go ‘oh well I better go murder this person now’ or ‘I better go fake my own death’. “There’s a lot of melodrama that boganism fits.” The award winning theatre group presents new adaptations of Shakespearean plays with a contemporary West Australian twist each year and Hamlet featured at the Fringe World festival in Perth in January. “We’ve done Romeo and Juliet but it’s a Dockers family and an Eagles family, Julius Ceaser set in Bunnings, Macbeth in a cricket club,” Lovatt said. “Hamlet specifically is set in Denmark WA.” “It’s about who owns the local pub, the Crown — that’s why all the murders and the like start happening.” Lovatt, who has a Bachelors in English and Creative arts and a Diploma in Secondary Education from Murdoch University, said his productions are not so much a parody of Shakespeare but rather a comedic retelling. “To satirise something you really have to appreciate it I believe as much as it is poking a bit of fun it,” he said. “As the writer I’m a big fan of Shakespeare and it’s a retelling, it’s not afraid to poke a bit of fun and it’s also got a lot of love for the original.” Speaking from Japan where he is holidaying, Lovatt said that he is looking forward to visiting Narrogin, the town where his grandparents met, for the first time. “I’ll be well rested and I’m excited to come down,” he said. “It’s going to be a good show, it may be the last Hamlet we do for a long time as we have a new show next year.” Recommended for audiences over 15 years of age due to coarse language and sexual references, Bogan Shakespeare’s performance of Hamlet will take place at the Narrogin Town Hall on October 21. Doors will open at 6pm for a 7.30pm start and tickets for the event can be purchased on the Arts Narrogin website.