Review: Hamlet Factory “Performance Review”

Overview:

The gang is up for their performance reviews, and the anxiety is kicking in. Did they do exceedingly well? Are they all about to be fired? Or is the concept of a performance review at a factory of monkeys attempting to write Hamlet a flawed concept at its core. Regardless, each monkey will have to face the wrath of their own performance.

Our Take:

Hamlet Factory is the latest collection of shorts dropping on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel, Adult Swim Smalls. The series focuses on three monkeys working the most mundane office jobs, spending eternity attempting to write Shakespeare’s classic, Hamlet. Working alongside an infinity of other monkeys, their lives lack purpose and value. But still, a monkey has to do what a monkey has to do.

Truthfully, Hamlet Factory is the golden treasure of the internet right now. These three-minute animations offer so much dialogue on life, the universe and everything that this show about monkeys is one of the most thought-provoking and intelligent pieces of entertainment available.

This episode, appropriately titled, puts our favourite apes up for their semi-millennial performance reviews. Once again, the question is purposed: what does any of it matter? Honestly, as investigated in the first episode, if these monkeys did the job intended and delivered Hamlet in all its working glory, they would all lose their jobs. So, a performance review lacks any purpose…aside for the one monkey fired for bringing a gun into the office.

The social commentary cannot be lost. What does any of it really matter? We are all a bunch of monkeys failing at writing Shakespeare. Whether you are a high-level executive, a mid-range accountant, or operating a cash register, none of it brings value to the world. Not to get existential on you, but that is the show’s basis. The lowly office job that offers no actual value other than providing a paycheque and giving us somewhere to go. And as depressive as it sounds, the acknowledgement of it all is enough to laugh at.  

Hamlet Factory is that conceptually deep. It is also downright hilarious with its utilization of three different monkeys, each with their own approach to work and life. Delivered with solid dialogue and subtle jokes, these shorts are a perfect little package.

If Adult Swim wants to bring back the quarter-hour content like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, then Hamlet Factory should be in the running. With only nine-plus minutes of content available, it is already one of the best things to watch. At least if Hamlet Factory goes nowhere, give these creators a stab at a full-length series due to their cleverness alone.