The rehearsal, playing the Dane

Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire Nov 4-5 8pm 25/20 01-2312929 paviliontheatre.ie; Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork Nov 25-26 021-4501653 everymanpalace.com; Black Box Theatre, Galway Nov 30-Dec 1 091-569777 tht.ie

“A problem you solve,” says Sister Gertrude in a Muriel Spark novel, “a paradox you live with.” This capricious and rather illuminating intertextual reference is typical of Pan Pan’s award-winning and now globe-hopping riff on Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

For all its self-awareness, mad gags and sometimes impenetrable idiosyncrasies, The Rehearsalis about the most faithful representation of Hamlet you could hope to find. Not because it puts the play on stage (heaven forfend!) but because it reflects Hamlet's role on stage, in culture and in life. Here the casting of the coveted part is determined by an audition and audience vote, while "the play within the play" is the play.

Director Gavin Quinn (also on stage) may seem deadpan, but his production can be very moving, especially when Judith Roddy and – most fearlessly, most heroically – Conor Madden (pictured) throw themselves into their roles. Something is mesmerising in the state of Denmark.

Can't see that? Catch this: The Seafarer, Ramor Theatre, Virginia Backstage Theatre, Longford