Lost Dog presents
THE LAST HAMLET by Ben Duke
What if this was the last Hamlet – literally – after which Shakespeare’s play would never be performed again? This is the bold challenge taken up by Ben Duke and his company, Lost Dog. Hamlet bears a heavy responsibility for the ills of our time: he is depressed, violent and guilty of choosing procrastination over action. Having learned his drama has been cancelled, he is taking to the stage one last time. He’s worked up some new material and he’s hoping to persuade us to let him stay. But in Lost Dog’s hands, nothing is sacred. Shakespeare’s most iconic character becomes the starting point for a darkly comic exploration of existence, love, revenge, and the stories we can’t seem to escape – no matter how hard we try.
The Last Hamlet premiered at the Festival D’Avignon, France on 17 July 2026 and will receive its UK premiere at Sadler’s Wells East on 4 November 2026.
About the Show
- Ben Duke plays Hamlet the Dane. Hamlet has been given one final chance to prove that his story is not just another play about ‘depressed, violent, mysognistic men’. But the budget has been cut, he’s been forced to construct his set out of cardboard boxes and the majority of his cast are soft toys (who are terrible with their lines and so he must ask the audience for their help).
- Duke is joined on stage by multi-talented dancer/actors Miguel Altunaga and Hannah Shepherd who play characters from the play – Horatio, Gertrude, Ophelia and Ghost – but also act as a movement ensemble.
- At the start it feels like a stand-up comedy gig. Hamlet addresses the audience directly from a central mic on stage, he invites them to participate, asks for their help. It feels a little bit improvised and is very funny. But it soon evolves into a more complex and satisfying combination of music, movement and text – “In Ben Duke’s work, choreography operates through physical contact, seeking sensuality but also resistance. It lifts the performers when words are not enough. If text is always the first step of his theatrical proposition, movement gives it flesh and weight.” Le Monde
- The show features an eclectic soundtrack that ranges from eighties pop to Romanian folk songs via soul funk classics; and ends with the stirring Corncrakes from British folk singer/songwriter Anna B Savage (who can perform live in the show if required)
- Like all Lost Dog’s work The Last Hamlet walks a line between dance and theatre. It will appeal to theatre audiences who think they don’t like dance and dance audiences who think they don’t do theatre. A previous familiarity with Hamlet and other works of Shakespeare is not necessary to enjoy the show although those who are familiar with the original story will enjoy some ‘easter egg’s and in-jokes that are scattered throughout. Older students will discover a unique approach and exploration of Hamlet’s character and back-story as well as the reframing of Ophelia as anything but his victim.
About the Company
Lost Dog is an award-winning dance/theatre company based in rural East Sussex and led by director/choreographer Ben Duke. We aim to create and tour excellent shows widely and well – with consideration for the planet, care for our staff and performers and generosity towards our audiences. We treasure and celebrate the temporary community that is created when people share time, space and air in a theatre – whether that theatre is a village hall or a major metropolitan opera house. In 2026 our touring destination included a medieval cloisters at the Avignon Festival, a library in the Midlands, Sadler’s Wells East in London, and a Cultural Centre in the Northern Territories in Canada (one of the remotest places on earth).
Like our touring, our works on stage defy categorisation – ‘this company…constantly walks a tightrope between opposites. They create dance, they create theatre; they use words, they use dance; they offer wisdom, they offer foolishness; they make you spring up in hope and they make you slump in despair. They are one of the most fascinating theatre companies around.’ The Observer – but at their heart there is usually a familiar story or (often venerated) classic text which is retold, re-imagined or reinvented through words, music and movement. Ben Duke, has a talent for finding the ordinary in the extraordinary, making great works entirely relatable to modern audiences, seeing tragedy and comedy in the everyday. Our shows offer audiences an evening of genuine, laugh out loud entertainment while quietly (sometimes loudly) breaking their hearts.
In Autumn 2026 the work of Lost Dog’s Artistic Director, Ben Duke, is being celebrated through a season of his recent works (Ruination, Juliet & Romeo, Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) and The Last Hamlet) at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.
Previous works from the company include:
Ruination – based on Medea and co-produced by the Royal Ballet – was the Christmas show at the Linbury Theatre in London for both the 2022 and 2024 seasons. Ruination received an Olivier Award Nomination for Raquel Meseguer Zafe for her dramaturgy, won Ben Duke the National Dance Award for Best Modern Choreography (2022) and was programmed by Wayne Macgregor into the 2024 Venice Dance Biennale.
Juliet & Romeo – our most successful show to date imagines what might have happened if Shakespeare’s famous lovers had lived on into ordinary middle age. It has been performed 132 times, to more than 24,000 people, in 7 different countries and translated into 5 different languages. – “It’s not often you’re doubled over with laughter and wiping away tears of sadness during the same show. Given the components that come together in Juliet & Romeo, however, it’s no surprise” The Scotsman
Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) – was recently remounted for small-scale and rural touring throughout the UK. In 2021 The Guardian named it one of the top ten dance shows of the 21st Century.
