HAMLET till 15 November.

Southampton.

HAMLET
by William Shakespeare.

Nuffield Theatre to 15 November 2003.
Runs 3hrs 15min One interval.

Review Hazel Brown 21 October 2003.

Fast-paced modern production with immediate appeal.
This fast paced modern dress production delivers a clear and interesting interpretation. With judicious pruning and doubling of some of the parts, Patrick Sandford has added resonances to this classic. This is particularly evident in Jonathan Newth playing both The Ghost and the Player King, making the impact of the play within the play more immediate.

Stephen Noonan, with his shaved head, sits like a resentful teenager in a black suit at the wedding reception for his mother and stepfather, resolutely refusing to join in the celebrations. Claudius is a smooth talking politician who would not be out of place at a party conference, with Gertrude suited and coiffed like Hilary Clinton, troubled by, but not understanding, her son's truculence. Following the Ghost's appearance, Hamlet's madness' is put on just like the swathes of loo paper he wears in mockery of the scarves worn by his university friends. His calm at the Ghost's revelations is gradually replaced by simmering distress and reaches a pinnacle of anger in Noonan's superb delivery of the rogue and peasant slave' speech - the high spot of his excellent performance.

Another excellent theatrical note is struck when, after the bedroom scene in which Hamlet upbraid's
Gertrude and kills Polonius, the mussed up marital bed remains on stage for Ophelia's madness scene and is finally rolled away to reveal the freshly dug grave beneath. A wonderful metaphor.

I commend this excellent production for its clarity and the performances for their immediacy, but I was mystified by the appearances of Fortinbras, a yomping' commander, marching across the stage each time his name is mentioned, striking a comic rather than the menacing note no doubt intended; the mechanics of the lowering of Ophelia into her grave need attention; and the leaping into and out of the grave at the end are clumsy instead of raising emotional stakes.

Marcellus, Osric: Andrew Wheaton.
Barnardo, Rosencrantz, Gravedigger's mate: Phillip Edgerley.
Horatio: Ben Caplan.
The Ghost, The Leader of the Players, The Gravedigger: Jonathan Newth.
King Claudius: David Gwillim.
Queen Gertrude: Heather Tobias.
Polonius: John Woodvine.
Laertes: Joseph Mawle.
Ophelia: Chipo Chung.
Hamlet: Stephen Noonan.
Fortinbras, Guildenstern: Kieran Buckeridge.

Director: Patrick Sandford.

2003-10-27 08:01:24