HAMLET till 8 Oct
HAMLET: William Shakespeare
Haymarket Basingstoketo 8th October 2005
6th September to 8th October 2005
Monday to Saturday 7.30 p.m.
Matinees 22nd September and 6th October at 2.00 p.m, 1st October at 4.00 p.m.
Page to Stage 22nd October at 10.30 a.m.: Audio Described performance 1st October at 4.00 p.m.: BSKL Interpreted performance 4th October 7.30 p.m.
Review Mark Courtice: 26th September 2005
Clear, energetic Hamlet.In the foyer at Basingstoke is a display of film stars who have played Hamlet. Clearly. in the matter of the Dane, Hollywood has preferred the beefy and mature. Here it is the exact opposite; thin and energetic Jack Laskey plays the anguish and doubt through physicality. He is also very young and so are his mates. This makes the daft things they do are comprehensible. If they were not dealing with murder, incest and the fate of Denmark, they would be handing essays in late and having pregnancy scares.
All this is very clear in John Adams's admirably clear production. Sensibly and sensitively cut to last 2 and 3/4 hours and set in modern dress there are lots of clever touches that illuminate and clarify. There is a moment at the very last when a neat idea is genuinely startling (even if it wasn't exactly what Shakespeare suggested). The way the ghost is treated would, I think, be confusing if you don't know the play, but is interesting and exciting both visually and (because its carried by several people) vocally.
The setting by Janet Bird is less convincing. The castle at Elsinor is reduced to an out of season hotel foyer and garden, and although the signs of a disruptive war all round give a clear sense of danger, there is an element of a domestic at reception at the Castle motel. However, new Artistic Director Adams knows how to use the small Haymarket stage so it looks full, not crowded, and the whole thing is very well put together with high technical standards making sure that things look and sound right.
There are some good performances. Laskey's Hamlet febrile physicality which makes sense of his fights and underscores his intelligent treatment of the nine soliloquies is matched by many in a cast who are not afraid of movement. Joseph Marcell as Claudius is a terrific baddy. Like his nephew, his body betrays his thinking; darting, sinuous, controlled and vicious.
As his Gertrude, Amelda Brown is all cold containment; Claudius commits his crimes for power, not sex.
Victim/Player Queen/Maid Bethan Cecil
Victim/Rosencrantz/Priest Ben Crowe
Victim/Player King/Grave Digger 2 Nick Lumley
Victim/Guildenstern/Fortinbrass Kevin O'Leary
Francisco/Laertes/Player 3 Simon Müller
Barnardo/Reynaldo/Player 5/Grave Digger 1 Ralph Casson
Horatio John Paul Connolly
Marcellus/Player 4/Captain/Osrick Alex Maclaren
Hamlet Jack Laskey
Gertrude Amelda Brown
Claudius Joseph Marcell
Polonius Paul Greenwood
Ophelia Miriam Hughes
Director John Adams
Designer Janet Bird
Lighting Designer Chris Ellis
2005-10-11 08:40:42