Hamlet Archives - North West End UK

17Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Hamlet – Royal Lyceum Theatre

An international festival ought to end in carnival fashion, and this blended version of Hamlet did just that. It was an explosion of success, rejoicing, a knees-up and warm audience participation. Teatro La Plaza from Lima, Peru, has created a feast of a show using back projection (Lucho Soldevilla), music, thoughtful lighting (Jesūs Reyes), a simple set and a fabulous cast of Downs Syndrome adults. This adaptation of Hamlet is both funny in itself and wonderful as a piece of art for showcasing the unquestionable talents of a marginalised sector of society. Written and directed by Chela De Farrari, a founder of the company, the intention is to entertain as you ask questions which help us better understand the contemporary world and, in this instance, the world of the Downs person in...

21Mar

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

Hamlet – National Theatre

Shakespeare’s much-loved and much-performed tragedy is back with a neo classical adaptation for young audiences by Jude Christian, directed by Ellie Hurt. This energetic and funny show has the little ones completely enthralled, right from the pre-show crowd work that the actors employ to draw in the audience to the many moments of utter shock and surprise throughout the 65-minute performance. The audience is even asked to actively contribute to the play within the play by creating sounds and chanting ‘mur-der-er’ to shame and chase actors off stage. The play opens with a scene showing the funeral of Hamlet’s father; ‘dad’ and ‘king’ are spelt out in floral tribunals making the event very clear and this intentional clarity is evident throughout the play, making it easy for young audience...

<strong>Hamlet – Southwark Playhouse</strong>

22Jan

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Hamlet – Southwark Playhouse

Lazarus Theatre Company offer a different approach to producing a Shakespeare production. Reimagining the classics is their game, collaborating with their artists, they have an emphasis on ensemble work, which was in evidence in this Hamlet production. Lazarus have co-produced this show with Southwark Playhouse’s Shakespeare for Schools Project, and the youthful cast encouraged a younger audience to come along to watch. Hamlet was a reluctant choice for Artistic Director Ricky Dukes, as he felt that it has been exhausted, and there can be an issue of what can we add to a production, but they need not have worried, this production packs a punch and enables Shakespeare’s language to work within this ensemble framework. The opening scene is a case in point, The Voice (...

Ian McKellen to star in HAMLET at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

30Mar

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

Ian McKellen to star in HAMLET at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Ian McKellen and Peter Schaufuss will collaborate and perform together at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the world premiere of HAMLET a new performance concept adapted from Shakespeare’s play from the 2nd – 28th August 2022 at Ashton Hall, Saint Stephens Theatre, 105 St Stephen Street, Edinburgh. In his long and distinguished career, Ian McKellen has played Hamlet twice, in productions 50 years apart. In 1971 he took the role on tour and in the West End and then last year, aged 81, he revisited it in an age, colour, and gender-blind production at the Theatre Royal, Windsor. Despite Covid, that four-month run was completely sold out. Now McKellen is to return to Hamlet in a world première at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, performing with the Edinburgh Festival Ballet Compan...

4Feb

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Hamlet – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

The first production of Hamlet in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in the Shakespeare's Globe was an event to look forward to. The intimate candle lit wooden interior of the playhouse provided the opportunity for a very different feel to what is probably the best play the Bard ever wrote. What a disappointment it turned out to be. It started well enough, the initial scene on the battlements with the ghost was in complete darkness and when the candles were lit for the subsequent scene the characters were dressed in more or less traditional Elizabethan costumes; the stage was bare apart from one or two chairs and a large circular well in the middle. There were a few inconsistencies: Horatio, sported a modern university type scarf and a single musician sat on stage...

5Oct

By Clare ChandlerNo Comments

London

Hamlet – Young Vic

Cush Jumbo is the big draw in this production of Shakespeare’s classic play, whipping up a storm as the tempestuous Prince of Elsinore. Cross gender, or gender blind, casting of this legendary protagonist is not a new fad, indeed the first ‘female’ Hamlet graced a London stage in 1796 - when Elizabeth Powell took on the role. There is also a 12th century Danish legend that states that he was in fact a she, and that Hamlet’s gender had been hidden by their mother to protect their claim to the throne. In Greg Hersov’s production Jumbo’s ‘unmanly grief’ is the undoing of Elsinore as Hersov’s edited text (which still runs at over three hours) aims for a mystery thriller flow to bring the piece alive for a contemporary audience. At its most successful the performance is an absolut...

16Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Hamlet – Royal Shakespeare Company

In this 2016 production Simon Godwin’s version completely re-imagines Hamlet from a visual perspective. The text largely remains the same, albeit tweaked in places and the small changes have accelerated the pace of the play - it rarely rests on its laurels. The African theme brings a freshness to one of the most regularly performed of Shakespeare’s plays. Dressed as military guards Barnardo (Kevin N Golding) and Marcellus (Theo O’Gundipe) have asked Horatio (Hiran Abeysekera) to come along to see the ghost that has a likeness to the dead King to prove that they are not crazy. The scene is dark, and it creates a feeling of menace but undershoots slightly as there is no ghostly apparition and we must wait until the next scene before we see the ghost of the King.&nb...