Ophelia – Greenside @ Riddles Court
Do women still need to fight for space simply to be? As uncomfortable as it is to watch a woman always holding back, are we willing to see her rage?
I recommend watching Bristol University Spotlights’ ‘Ophelia’ to help answer such questions with their play based on Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ but very much set in the world of a modern Ophelia.
This is a world where we don’t quite learn how Hamlet would come to kill Ophelia’s father, but that is actually in keeping with it being Ophelia’s story and with the narrowness of the space within which she is confined. The play is particularly strong at the start, revealing the young protagonist’s mind: very real, very relatable. Her meeting with Hamlet beautifully demonstrates why she is attracted to him and why he can take such possession of...