For his adaptation of Hamlet Tom Lanoye explores the psychology of adolescence. The ‘juvenile’ Hamlet feels crushed by the adult world. A picture is painted of a character who fluctuates between self-hatred and inflated ego, between contempt for himself and contempt for an imperfect world. Hamlet’s tormented monologues are a cri de coeur and exorcism, an indictment and adjuration rolled into one. Hamlet becomes entangled in the nets of madness, as well as in the theatricality with which he stage-manages himself. He is a human being like all of us: inconsistent, complex, ambivalent and ambiguous. In pursuing his ambitions and trying to overcome his fears, he comes face to face with himself: Hamlet vs Hamlet.