Hamlet
Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Hamlet
Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Hamlet, a character distressed and disturbed by grief, murder and revenge, combined with the genius of the National Theatre; I couldn’t imagine a better recipe for one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays. No, not even the very fidgety man in the seat next to me for 4 hours could ruin this.
Having already seen ‘Frankenstein’ with Cumberbatch from the National Theatre I was excited to see what they would conjure on stage for ‘Hamlet’; I was not disappointed. The first act ended with a striking torrent of leaves bursting through the doors into the dark and empty castle; reinforcing the disorder and chaos created after Hamlet accidentally kills Ophelia’s father, Polonius. However the change of era reflected in the costumes was slightly disorientating, the 1920s dresses of Gertrude, the modern day hipster attire of Horatio and then Hamlet’s Topman-style David Bowie t-shirt made the setting feel disjointed and hard to place into a time period. The character of Polonius, played by Jim Norton (I recognised him from Father Ted) was outstanding, his lines were carried out with such gravity and authority he was easily one of the most convincing. Similarly, Benedict Cumberbatch made me feel the distress and the torment he carried around with him throughout.
The emotion that filled each of Shakespeare’s famous speeches ‘To be or not to be’ and ‘What a piece of work is man’ reminded me of the sheer beauty of Shakespeare’s writing- even if I didn’t quite manage to follow every word. So even if Shakespeare isn’t your thing, find some time to see this production; if it’s just to gaze at the stunning stage design and enjoy the sounds of the language it’s still well worth it.
