A dance production of ‘Hamlet’ is more than just another show
Kitchener’s Centre In The Square has reached a major milestone with this acclaimed dance interpretation of Shakespeare’s play, Luisa D’Amato writes.
By Luisa D’Amato, Reporter
Luisa D’Amato is a Waterloo Region Record reporter and columnist. She writes on issues affecting day to day life in the area. She can be reached at ldamato@therecord.com.
Monday, March 2, 2026
On Thursday, Kitchener’s Centre in the Square will pass a major milestone.
The internationally renowned dance production — created by two Canadian artists, choreographer Guillaume Côté and stage director Robert Lepage — “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” will be presented at this theatre.
The production itself will be fascinating. The story is told through movement, music, light and shadows. In this portrayal of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, known chiefly for its words, not a word will be spoken.
The Centre quotes the author Margaret Atwood’s words of praise for the production as “gripping, intensely athletic, and visually enchanting.”
Thursday’s performance also represents a pivotal moment for the Centre, says its executive director, Eric Lariviere.
Only two and a half years ago, the 2,000-seat performing arts centre abruptly lost its biggest tenant when the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony ceased operations and cancelled its 2023-24 season due to crushing financial troubles.
Before then, the symphony concerts had mostly taken place at the Centre. The building had even been constructed for the symphony.
But when the orchestra stopped performing, the Centre suddenly lost a third of its business.
The Centre’s strategy after that was “very business-focused. You need the revenue, so you open up for rentals,” said Lariviere.
Along with the tribute bands and variety shows that came in, there was also room for outreach. The Centre offered more diverse art forms, including tabla music, fado singing, tango and Japanese cinema.
Lariviere offered rental of the Studio (a smaller performance space within the facility) for $80 a night to community organizations. He also welcomed rentals for high school graduations and dance competitions as a way to make the building part of a special time in someone’s life.
(Full disclosure: I’m the part-time executive director of the Grand Philharmonic Choir, which rents the Centre for three concerts a year.)
This strategy has been working well. And now, Lariviere says, it’s time to “elevate the work that we bring here, and bring the best touring Canadian theatre or global productions that are available.”
That’s what this reimagination of “Hamlet” represents.
The dance production premiered in 2024 in Toronto. It sold out for multiple performances in Toronto and Montreal, and is now on a secondary tour including Ottawa, Toronto, Kitchener and Vancouver.
Lariviere says Waterloo Region deserves “great life experiences for its population. We’re a university town, we’re a high-technology town, we’re a business town … We’re at the door of Stratford.”
For him, this performance represents “the best work that you can see in Canada and from around the world.”
Lariviere thinks people will travel 150 kilometres to see this show, and he has invited leaders in the artistic community to attend as well.
“How many of the great theatre directors’ works have we seen in this house in the past 10 years?” he asks.
“Hamlet” is “the kind of thing you only see in big cities. We have the big-city infrastructure here.”
So we do.
I’ve often thought of Centre in the Square as a sleeping giant. Under the leadership of Raffi Armenian, former artistic director of the symphony orchestra, the hall opened in 1980 with one of the finest acoustic environments in North America. And Armenian also made sure it was equipped to host the largest and most technically challenging of operas, Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle.
All this happened in a medium-sized city like Kitchener, because there were enough people here who felt we deserved the very best. Decades later, it is thrilling to still feel that spirit.
Luisa D’Amato is a Waterloo Region Record columnist. Reach her by email at ldamato@therecord.com.
