#+ they cut the gravedigger which is.. in line with how little they showed hamlet's sense of humour and odd bursts of energy and such :(

[lizardrosen]

Hamlet at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater

This was a really good production, that I’ve been looking forward to for six months, and it really lived up to the wait! I took two and a half pages of notes of things I remembered or loved, which I’ll try to condense, but regardless, some of this is ending up under a cut.

Characters

Maurice Jones was an incredible Hamlet, really broken up about his father, but so overcome with grief that he had to push that aside for rage at his mother’s infidelity because it was an easier emotion to handle. He was very physically aggressive to other characters, and this performance really illustrated that Hamlet isn’t indecisive because he can’t decide to do anything; he’s indecisive because he acts on each decision right away but doesn’t commit to any of them.

Horatio was a pillar of stability that everyone turned to for a sense of normalcy. Soft-spoken but with his trademark wry humor, he seemed to position himself as a quiet observer from the very beginning, almost like he’d come right from Hamlet’s directive at the end and had to see how things fell out. But he and Hamlet really didn’t seem to be dating, it’s more that Horatio is there for everyone.

Ophelia and Laertes had a really good sibling dynamic, and made fun of their father wonderfully! They physically deflated when he started giving advice, and then imitated his motions exactly when he got to “This above all...” because they’d heard it so often.

Ophelia was a lot of fun, and felt like someone growing out of girlhood into adulthood -- in her first scene she’s playing with a toy boat, and by the end she’s sharp and jaded, (almost the opposite of Hamlet, in that she’s incredibly angry at her circumstances, but that keeps being overwhelmed by grief)

Laertes was really good! In the first act he really played up the “puffed and reckless libertine” aspect, doing anything that was fun for him. But when he got back he was furious of course, but also more thoughtful and willing to listen to reasoned arguments (even if they were given by a gross snake like Claudius, UGH). A very neat way to handle his sense of honor!

Polonius was sincere and a real character trying to help, not a cardboard cutout who says things that don’t make sense so we can laugh at him. And I mean, other characters were making fun of him, but because he felt so real you had to feel bad for him. Sometimes he was almost self aware but then shrugged it off and kept talking

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern had almost an opposite relationship dynamic from how it is in the Stoppard play, which made me laugh, but they were both very good. But Guildenstern seemed shy and unsure, and tried to fit in with the court customs, while Rosencrantz took charge like “don’t worry, baby chick, I’ll take you under my wing”  and then strode forward in the wrong direction. Someone help them, they’re Trying Their Best.

Gertrude and Claudius were really handsy with each other, always sneaking off to kiss, and it’s like they wanted Hamlet to get pissed and vengeful. Claudius stepped very easily into his new position and just acted like it wasn’t a big deal, which possibly dazzled his courtiers into agreeing. I don’t think Gertrude knew he’d murdered Papa Hamlet at first, but became suspicious and watchful after the closet scene. By the time she drank the poisoned goblet she absolutely knew it would kill her

The Players were a queer punk Scandinavian acting troupe, but I love and value all of them, especially the petite tumblr who shyly handed Hamlet a rose just before the Murder of Gonzago started

The Player King came back as the second gravedigger, so he didn’t get to banter with Hamlet. But the comedic timing was perfect in that scene!

Stage and Set

The lighting and music both worked very well, subtly tying into each scene.

The ghost was a black and white video projected onto the back wall, with a lot of smoke in between, so it was even more unsettling and disorienting, and the ghosts voice moved around the house to come from different speakers so you never knew where he was going to be next.

The thrust stage could have been used more effectively, but I’ve seen that kind of stage used really badly and it wasn’t that.

Cool wall hangings with fancy patterning - they were just white with embroidery or something, but with different colored lights shining on them from the top they’d change colors all the way down, and that worked with each scene. So Claudius’s pomp and circumstance was usually orange, Ophelia’s scenes usually got blue, and I didn’t pick up on all the color choices but I felt them

When Polonius dies he pulls one of the curtains down on top of him, and when Claudius dies all the rest fall at once, and the lighting changes from loud and dramatic to something plainer and free of artifice, until it condenses to a white (and very slightly blue) light centered on Hamlet and Horatio

Plot Etc.

Started with Hamlet at his father’s grave, singing until he was too overcome with weeping, and then Claudius and Gertrude ran onstage giggling and kissing, and Hamlet glared at them until he stormed off the stage.

Scene two was a coronation gala and Hamlet, in a black hoodie shouldered between Claudius and Gertrude’s linked hands and headed straight for the snacks table

The Ophelia + Laertes + Polonius scene opens with Ophelia running onstage holding a long blue cloth that trailed behind her like a river, which divided the stage diagonally through the whole scene - a visual marker of how far characters actually are from each other, and where they come together

After the nunnery scene Claudius and Polonius just ignore Ophelia when she’s sobbing on the ground! She was just a tool for them to use and then they stopped paying attention, no wonder she “went mad”! Polonius says “How now, Ophelia” and then doesn’t wait for an answer, just immediately says “You need not tell us what Hamlet said” and is already turning back to Claudius. That said, I think he really does care about his daughter, but tends to reflect the worst of the people around him.

Act One ended at “Bring me some light!” which I was not at all prepared for, but it worked really well because the play’s answer was a sudden blackout and then a slow return to house lights. And then Claudius repeats the line at the top of Act Two and the tableau jumps into startled action

Hamlet was very rough with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and it was just awful (but in a good way). He forces the recorder into Guildenstern’s mouth and sort of pushes him down so he has to bend his knees. It was a clear power play and made everyone Very Uncomfortable. Horatio and Rosencrantz finally pull them apart and Ros helps Guil collect himself, while Horatio sort of tries to comfort Hamlet while also clearly thinking that he’s gone Too Far.

Later when he calls Rosencrantz a sponge he squeezes him around the midsection from behind to hold him still before he suckerpunches him in the gut and it just looks very painful and bad. Besides the fact that he just killed a man, I think that’s what gets Rosencrantz running the fuck away.

The way Hamlet drags Gertrude around in the closet scene mirrors the way he drags Ophelia in the nunnery scene, owwww

The interview with the director in the playbill says that Polonius’s death is the moment the play becomes a tragedy, and you can feel everything draw in and get darker at that point, so good job from all the designers to make that happen!

Buuuut, she also said that “When the men in her life leave her, she implodes in on herself. There’s no other way for that story to end, not for someone as fragile as Ophelia, which I DON’T like. It really showed in how she was played, but the actress did a really good job in that Way Ophelia Is Usually Played. I just want to see a different kind of Ophelia once in a while!

They kept the scene where Hamlet talks with the Norwegian Captain about the territory in Poland!

When Hamlet is putting on an antic disposition he wears his mother’s dressing gown, and in Ophelia’s scenes she wears the shirt her dead father was stabbed in (who gave it to her tho?)

I found it VERY interesting who got which flowers, because it wasn’t at all what I usually see! Gertrude got rosemary, fennel and columbine; Laertes got pansies; Claudius got rue; and Horatio got a daisy.

When Ophelia breaks down about the withered violets she and Laertes end up full on SOBBING together for their father, which was heartrending and probably very good for both of them

Claudius and Laertes make their sinister plans in a sauna in the same trapdoor hole where Ophelia’s grave is in the next scene, and they’re still there when they hear of her death

The priest refused to sprinkle the holy water over the grave at the end of the service, and he just threw the container on the ground and strode away, so the gravediggers did that part instead, which was such a good moment!

Horatio was appropriately horrified at Hamlet switching the letters, and Hamlet was cavalier about it, but he showed enough emotional maturity in that scene overall that you could tell he wasn’t entirely unaffected either.

Definitely not my favorite Osric - for one thing, they left out the Hat bit. I usually read him as a very young man trying really hard to fit into the politicking of Elsinore and agreeing with Hamlet because he feels he has to, and to have him older and well established makes it harder for Hamlet and Horatio to mock, and you feel less bad for him in general. So I guess in that sense it's good that they left out the Hat scene.

When Hamlet is distracted by Gertrude collapsing, Laertes gets in a nasty little cut on the back of the leg, just a frustrated flick of his sword, and then Hamlet retaliates with the same kind of thing — surprising but effective!

Laertes got his full and proper death! YAY! It is so, so, important to me that his life doesn’t end on “The king, the king’s to blame” because he has never been about revenge as much as reparation. They have to forgive each other or the play doesn’t work right!

Horatio wasn’t so much mourning a boyfriend as he was mourning A Life because all lives are precious to him, and he was always there for everyone.

There was gorgeous almost choral music as he holds Hamlet, and a white (blue-ish) light centers on the two of them as Hamlet shakes from the poison.

And yet, even though the beats were clearly spelling out that they were setting up the final image of the play I was shocked that it ended with “flights of angels” and not the clamor of Fortinbras and court intrigue starting up all over again. I think the reason I was so surprised by what is actually a pretty typical ending point is that they did include the bit with the Norwegian captain, and the gravedigger talking about the day Papa Hamlet defeated Papa Fortinbras, so it seemed obvious to me that there would be a continuation of that.

Overall, I really loved this production, even if there were some things I would have done differently!

#hamlet #shakespeare #violence cw #under the cut #not quite liveblogging my life #horatio #laertes #ophelia #gertrude #claudius #polonius #death mention #recap

[suits-of-woe]

So, as I said last night, I went to see my first ever live production of Hamlet yesterday. It was a totally spur-of-the-moment thing, but I’m so glad I went, because it was a great experience and I’d just been dying to see it in person for months. This is the production if anyone’s curious.

Personally, I love reading about as many productions as possible just to get ideas, so if you’re like me, lots of ranting below the cut.

- okay, so it was a super small production, maybe 40 seats total. the set was quite minimal, with an elevated area toward the front with two thrones and a photo of claudius, and then a long stretch where the actors spent most of their time. (is that traverse? it was so tiny i’m not even sure if it counts but)

- hamlet. hamlet was great, and i was definitely nervous on that front, cause obviously a bad lead can absolutely ruin the play. he had really good range - imo that’s probably the most important thing to me in a hamlet actor. he totally got across a very child-like grief, he was hilarious in a lot of parts, and went pretty dark in others. the only thing i’d really say was missing was some of his manic passion (he seemed more manic upset) but overall a good hamlet.

- i was disappointed by horatio, ngl. i think people were discussing the other day why female horatio is a bad idea and...yeah...they did that. and aside from that issue she just tended to show more emotion than i think horatio should (she was probably just as upset by “we defy augury” as by hamlet’s death) and the relationship between them was just kinda...bro-ish idk. the passion’s slave speech definitely had that vibe. overall not awful, but horatio’s my favorite character so i was hoping for better. (on the plus side - our philosophy)

- this was my favorite polonius i’d ever seen, i think? he was super sweet with ophelia and laertes but also appropriately strict when needed and SO funny, holy shit, but without being obnoxious about it. i don’t even tend to go for loving polonius interps but he won me over.

- gertrude was just...always drinking wine?? literally any time she was sitting in her throne she was sipping from a glass, more if she was stressed or exasperated. i mean i know she’s a wine mom but jeez. no wonder she wanted to drink hamlet’s wine during the duel lmao.

- rosencrantz and guildenstern, oh god, i was losing my mind. they were basically just two complete idiots who were comically obsessed with being in elsinore and who had no actual friendship with hamlet. guildenstern especially was SO obnoxious, they spoke all their lines so loudly and so stiltedly and the joke was basically that they were a moron but it was barely funny the first time let alone the 30th. “why what a king is this” really had no emotional impact, because why would hamlet feel bad for killing these dumbasses?

- not gonna talk about every character, i promise, but the ghost was one more i really liked. he was double cast with claudius and there was just something about his manner that was really cool? like really stiff in a way that suggested death and hamlet always looked SO upset when he was onstage I was a big fan.

- in terms of order, the first scene was cut, as was anything involving fortinbras including that soliloquy. it was already a pretty long production, so i didn’t miss any of it, especially since i wasn’t a fan of horatio. then strangely it went from polonius telling the king and queen about hamlet’s madness to “to be” and then nunnery, then straight from there into hamlet taunting polonius. that was some pretty serious emotional whiplash tbh. and then after that was r+g and the players and they had the intermission right after “give me some light” but still kept the pipe scene in the second act which was weird

- i quite liked the player scene, the player was a funny combo of sleazy and very moving, and completely done with polonius and basically everyone else. however, r+g ruined the play scene. it was a small enough cast that they had to play the player queen and lucianus, but just...god...why. it did make hamlet’s acting advice make sense, but guildenstern was practically screaming their queen lines and rosencrantz was barely better, not sure how claudius was so moved by that

- the special effects were actually pretty damn great for such a tiny production. ophelia looked like she was scratched and bruised all over, and the deaths were super intense. gertrude like coughed up blood all over the floor, i was definitely not expecting that, and laertes and claudius both had blood for their stab wounds as well.

- laertes coming back was a highlight. he tried to strangle claudius while wearing these leather gloves and claudius tried to stay calm but had to unbutton the top button of his shirt and regain his breath for a second, and was obviously shaken. i just liked how they played that.

- gertrude’s account of ophelia’s death was SUPER sketchy, like, i’m not sure if they were trying to imply suicide or even something crazy like gertrude killed her, because she was really obviously lying. not sure why laertes bought it, but his reactions to ophelia through the whole thing were absolutely heartbreaking and so quiet and scared compared to his other lines.

- guess who played the gravediggers? fucking. the r+g actors AGAIN. i just. i was fed up by that point. but i will say, the guildenstern actor played osric and that was the only part i actually liked them in, cause they seemed very in character and the obnoxious manner was appropriate, not just random.

- the death scene was a little rushed, but still worked i thought. i was really looking forward to seeing “you that look pale” live, cause i imagine that as such a powerful fourth wall break. it wasn’t that intense in this production, especially cause there were tons of fourth wall breaks, but still good. and there was a moment right before hamlet died when he was just hyperventilating and horatio was holding onto his hand really tightly and i was very sad. but horatio didn’t break my heart nearly enough.

- yeah, on the whole basically i’d say i really enjoyed it as a first live production? r+g were an abomination but whenever they weren’t like actively driving me insane i was really enjoying myself. i’m a nitpicky asshole about hamlet, but there definitely is something so different about seeing it in person, because you just kind of lose yourself and forget about most of the flaws while you’re actually there. i’m planning to see another production in late april, so i’ll be really eager to compare the two.

#hamlet #mine #shakespeare #production thoughts

[anonsally]

Hamlet at American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco

Wife and I met one of my Hamlet-roulette buddies to see a totally different Hamlet this afternoon. John Douglas Thompson played Hamlet, and he was excellent. 

I think it may forever be difficult for me to see Hamlet without comparing it to Hamlet roulette, and since this is the first other production I’ve seen since the 31 times I saw the randomised production, it was especially disorienting. But I did enjoy it, and I thought they made some interesting choices. [spoilers below if you aren’t familiar with the play]

One of the sections of the play that was left out of the roulette version was the part where Hamlet talks to the Players, and that was a really great scene in this production. The play-within-the-play was great--the mimed prologue was played for total comedy, while the spoken part of it was performed in all seriousness. Throughout the Players’ performance, Hamlet was running the spotlight, and he occasionally pointed it at the King and Queen instead of at the Players.

The actor playing Hamlet was African-American, while the actor playing Ophelia was white. This (perhaps) led to an unusual interpretation of the “get thee to a nunnery” scene, which often comes off as fairly violent. Instead, and I imagine this was partly motivated by wanting to avoid the racist stereotype of the black man attacking a white woman, the scene showed quite a bit of tenderness between the two of them. His telling her to go to a nunnery appeared to be largely motivated by a desire to protect her. I liked this interpretation of the scene, especially since we don’t usually see scenes showing their relationship before its deterioration. This gave a real sense of what they were losing.

I liked that Laertes (also played by a black actor, Teagle F. Bougere) was interpreted as less of a hothead than I’ve often seen--again, going against the racist tropes about young black men being inherently violent. His line “And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience” was moved to before the beginning of the swordfight, showing his hesitation about killing Hamlet to avenge his father’s and sister’s deaths. 

Ophelia’s mad scene was, of course, played fairly traditionally--but in part of it she wore her father’s clothing and distributed his bowties as if they were flowers. Many productions have Ophelia’s madness performed in a very... wispy way, and also in a way where her madness isolates her completely so she is not even really aware that anyone else is there. But in this production, she interacted with others--there was a moment of lucidity where she recognised her brother before she went back to her raving, and she expressed some ferocious anger toward the King. 

Some of the conversation between the two gravediggers was cut, but they kept the line about how Ophelia was only getting a Christian burial (despite her death being suicide) because she was a gentlewoman. 

The very end of the play was... a little bit weird. Fortinbras came in, and it felt a little bit anti-climactic, as he surveyed the scene and had a whole conversation with Horatio. No one came in to announce that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were dead, either. 

The randomised Hamlet tended to emphasise the humor in the play, and was intentionally played a little bit over-the-top. (Hamlet’s line to the Players about not over-acting had been cut, since there were no Players in that production!) By comparison, this production felt a little bit understated to me, and I missed the comedic aspects. But overall, this was an excellent production!

#theatre #hamlet #shakespeare

[thedreamingdinosaur]

Directed By: Robert Icke

Cast:

Francisco, Gravedigger – Barry Aird. Horatio – Elliot Barnes- Worrell. Ophelia – Jessica Brown Findlay. Player Queen – Marty Cruickshank. Rosencrantz – Calum Finlay. Marcellus – Joshua Higgott. Guildenstern – Amaka Okafor. Reynaldo – Daniel Rabin. Ghost, Player King – David Rintoul. Hamlet – Andrew Scott. Gertrude – Juliet Stevenson. Laertes – Luke Thompson. Polonius – Peter Wight. Claudius – Angus Wright. Bernardo, Player 3, Priest – Matthew Wynn Fortinbras – John MacMillan Voltimand – Lorna Brown Newscaster – Sule Rimi Young Hamlet – Samuel Smith Priest – Father Roy Pearson Reporters – Skye Bennett, Tommy Burgess, Andrew Lewis, David Tarkenter, Pippa Winslow

To be, or not to be, that is the question.

It’s time for me to delve into the world of A-Level Drama review/ University level BA (Hons) English Literature critical analysis. Although my work load is excessive, I feel that it was necessary to share my experiences of another fantastic show with you all.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most reenacted plays of all time. With hundreds of renditions being performed all around the UK, each one brings elements of the classical Shakespearean theatre along with new and refreshing ideas.

Robert Icke is the latest member to jump on the band wagon and delve into the world of the Prince of Denmark along with a fabulous cast! With a 8 week run at The Almeida Theatre, Islington, and a newly announced West End transfer from June to September 2017, Icke used the small space of the theatre’s auditorium to his full advantage, adding a 21st century twist to the play.

For those who do not know the story, Hamlet explores the themes of madness, depression, misogyny and death… lots and lots of death. All the death. So. Much. Death.

Synopsis Hamlet is distraught after the death of his father. Two watchmen, and Horatio, witness the ghost of the late king walking through the castle late one night. When Hamlet is informed of this he see’s the apparition for himself and is informed by the spirit that it is indeed his deceased father and that his Uncle Claudius was the one who murdered him. Hamlet is ordered by his father to avenge him and is set on doing so until the very end. Along the way this drives him into deep madness. His mother, Gertrude, and Uncle see this and become increasingly worried about him and consult in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to watch him. All the while Polonius believes that Hamlet is mad in love with his daughter Ophelia hence his sudden outbursts but this is not the case and is clear when he orders Ophelia to go to a nunnery (dick move Hamlet… dick move…). He soon learns of a group of Actors in town and orders them to perform a scene which closely resembles his image of his fathers death, to draw out a reaction from his uncle. When Claudius runs from the room, Hamlet, along with Horatio, is convinced that he is truly and utterly guilty. Hamlet confronts his mother about this in privacy, or so he thinks. While hearing a noise from behind a curtain he jumps to conclusions and stabs poor Polonius, and instantly setting his own destiny in the form of his dispersal from Denmark to England where Claudius has plans for him to be killed. And so begins the spiral of death…  After Polonius, it is Ophelia who is next to die from grief and drowns in a river. Laertes (her brother) returns from France in pure rage at the death of his father and sister. Claudius convinces Laertes that this is all Hamlet’s doing. Later he soon receives a letter from Hamlet telling him of his immediate return to Denmark due to an incident on his journey to England. Claudius comes up with a plan to put everyones mind at ease and a fencing match out of revenge is arranged between Hamlet and Laertes. The king poisons Laertes blade so when it strikes Hamlet, he will be killed. As a back up plan he also puts poison into his goblet. Hamlet returns at the time of Ophelia’s death and is stuck with even more grief and reveals that he had loved Ophelia all along (awwww) When the match begins between Laertes and Hamlet, the latter scores the first point but refuses to sip from the goblet. Instead his mother does and is quickly dies from the poison. Laertes manages to cut Hamlet with the blade, but he does not die. Laertes is then cut by his own blade (idiot) and while dying, he tells Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the queens death as well. Hamlet stabs Claudius and then makes him drink the rest of the poison from the goblet (ultimate death!!) and everyone who’s dying finally dies. 

The setting itself was kept very minimalistic with just a ‘L’ shaped sofa, chair, lamp, small coffee table being used as the main set. A set of sliding doors were placed at the back of the stage which allowed us to envisage the layout of the palace. The 4th wall is broken several times throughout the play, with characters using the audience’s seating area for stage entries and also as their own audience when it came to the player’s play. It allowed you to be drawn in and fully included within the play, making you feel as if you were apart of the tragedy. Live action cameras where used to show recordings of certain events including the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes at the end of the play as well as pre-recording of newscasts to show the events in the world at that time. The recordings bought the 21st century through in the classical play.

Leading the show this time, Hamlet was played by the wonderful Andrew Scott, known most famously for his role as Jim Moriarty in BBC Sherlock. He bought to the stage a fresh rendition of the Prince of Denmark and truly channeled the madness that was meant to be. The elements of humour that he incorporated into the scenes broke away from the underlying seriousness that the play gives. Mocking and teasing characters also allowed us to see that Hamlets outlook on life had completely been effected by the death of his father. Andrew was able to incorporate the near psychopathic elements that he portrays in his role as Moriarty to a controlled yet still effective limit and also where needed, as well as showing a character who his grieving and hurting still.

The most famous speech in any Shakespearean play opens with the line ‘To be or not to be’. It has been recited by thousands over the years, including Benedict Cumberbatch in his rendition of Hamlet back in 2015. This time Andrew Scott took a very simplistic and minimalistic approach on the speech. An empty stage, with just him stood downstage, centre. All lights dimmed except the one spot line, illuminating the actor. Silence filled the entire theatre as the speech began. It wasn’t at all how I imagined. I expected something big and grand, overdramatic and nearly insane, similar to that of Benedict’s. But with this simpler tone, I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s not only Scott who embraces the madness and true identity of their character. Jessica Brown Findlay was able to give us a version of Ophelia which was truly something that I had not seen before. At first we see her lovestruck and smitten by Hamlet’s charming nature. But later we are introduced to her fiery ways. After the death of her father, see seems to sink into herself. Depression overtakes the poor girl and sends her into pure madness. We see her weakened physically with the use of a wheelchair showing us that she in need of support. But also her mental state is shown. While Claudius tries to get through to her she sings ‘Saint Valentine’s Day’ possibly with references to her beloved Hamlet. This contradicts the purity of the outfit chosen as a line reads ‘And opened the door to his room. He let in the girl, and when she left, She wasn’t a virgin anymore.’ We see Ophelia dressed in a simple white dress. The use of white here signifies the purity of the young girl although her mind has been tainted.  Eventually her madness drives her to death as she drowns in the river. An important thing to note with Ophelia’s character is the way that flowers are used with her. Violets are common with the character. When she dies, Gertrude wears a Violet, a symbol of faithfulness and modesty. These are also present at the scene of her death too. Jessica managed to not over work Ophelia’s insanity all the while including enough to show her decline.

One person who we see go through very little emotional change is Claudius, played by Angus Wright. The only time we seem some emotion from him is at the end during his poisoning and death, when we see fear strike the king. Throughout the play, he remains neutral to any form of reaction while the rest of the cast show their grief, sadness, love and joy. This is pivotal for Claudius character. Angus managed to show us someone who is suspicious and suspected throughout the entire play, yet ignore the accusations by others, including the ghost of his late brother.

To contrast we the conflicting emotions that Gertrude, Juliet Stevenson, is force to go through. While wanting to protect her son from the conflicts that he battling with, she is also not wanting to disappoint her new husband and king. Eventually it clearly gets too much for the poor queen as she drinks the poison set for her son. While in versions of the play this may seem harder to pick up on, Juliet was able to give a clear perception on where she stood

Each element and scene of the play was bought to life with some truly amazing talent. The connection between all characters and their relationships with each other was entirely believable and mesmerising. The cast fully immersed themselves into the world of Shakespeare, yet at the same time, keeping us still updated in the modern world by the use of their costumes, sets and technology. The fear with a modern adaptation of a classical piece of art, is that of losing the original effect. This, however, was not to case in Ickes representation.

The final scenes of the play left me on the edge of my seat. A live fencing competition will always be tense despite the knowledge of the excessive safety elements that all actors and crew members go through, and that they have rehearsed and performed the scene more times than you know, does not push the fear away from your mind. Ending the play, Icke chose a beautiful send off for all characters who met an untimely death. As each character heads towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel, we end with Horatio cradling a lifeless Hamlet in his arms.

Robert Icke has truly honoured Shakespeare’s name by directing an outstanding piece of dramatical art. It is clear he has thought long and hard, along with his creative team, about what he wanted to achieve and has done so with great success. It has earned it’s 3 month west end transfer allowing more people to witness this iconic play.

To top the night off however, I was able to meet Andrew Scott himself outside the theatre’s main entrance. The poor man was extremely tired but still put on a huge smile for all of his fans that greeted him with so much pride, praise and excitement. Well done Andrew, you deserve it.

But the big question is; is Andrew’s version better than Benedict’s? While I loved both plays, and regard them as some of the best pieces of theatre that I have ever had the pleasure of watching in my life, I find myself at a place where I am unable to answer that question. Truthfully, both plays had elements in which captured the audience in aww and some which might have lacked ever so slightly. But at the end of the day, all plays have their faults and all have their shining moments.

So is this a play in which I would see again? Absolutely! I am planning on, getting more another ticket to see it in the new theatre. To anyone looking for a night out in London during the summer holidays, I would 100% recommend seeing the show.

★★★★★

By Natalie Midwinter.

Review Time!: Hamlet – 06.04.2017 (WARNING CONTAINS ‘SPOILERS’) Directed By: Robert Icke Cast: Francisco, Gravedigger - Barry Aird. Horatio - Elliot Barnes- Worrell. Ophelia - Jessica Brown Findlay.