Hamlet
'We played to the Queen of Denmark. We did a turn for Barack Obama'Sunday, 15 May 2016A few days after two Taliban rockets had quivered in the Afghan skies above us, I found myself looking up at an altogether different set of heavens in the Sistine Chapel. Moments of reflection on this tour were, out of necessity, brief; our schedule... Read more... |
Hamlet, Tobacco Factory, BristolFriday, 26 February 2016Alan Mahon’s Hamlet in Andrew Hilton’s production for Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory bristles with teen spirit and this is no bad thing. The Prince of Denmark, even before his father dies, is beset with the angst that goes with the territory of... Read more... |
The police stopped 'To be or not to be' and asked to see our permitsSaturday, 30 January 2016Za’atari set a precedent. Our performance in the Syrian refugee camp in Jordan became a template for how to perform Hamlet in every nation in the world – in a world that rendered travel to Syria, Yemen, Libya and Central African Republic out of the... Read more... |
When Hamlet came to a Syrian refugee campSunday, 01 November 2015It would have been impossible to go to Syria. Our plan to perform Hamlet in every nation in the world faced its biggest obstacle to date and the Globe producers were left pondering a Plan B. We considered performing in a Syrian embassy - technically... Read more... |
The South Bank Show: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sky ArtsThursday, 15 October 2015It’s huge, it’s just huge, said Benedict Cumberbatch, struggling to express the scale of the challenge that playing Hamlet presents. As Lord Bragg reminded us, Cumberbatch is the lead in the middle of the fastest-selling theatrical event... Read more... |
Hamlet, BarbicanWednesday, 26 August 2015The set turns out to be the thing now that Benedict Cumberbatch's star turn in Hamlet has finally arrived, trailing in its wake a level of expectation, hysteria and scrutiny that might well have made many a lesser actor head for the hills. None... Read more... |
Hamlet, Park TheatreFriday, 05 December 2014A chalky-faced man stands in the shadows and his limbs jolt about, as if battling for position beneath his skin. This is the ghost of Hamlet's father and he is a fearful sight in ACS Random's Victorian and spectral take on Shakespeare's tragedy.... Read more... |
Hamlet, Royal Exchange, ManchesterWednesday, 17 September 2014One of the oddities about theatre is that there can be a gripping performance at the heart of an underwhelming production – and so is the case with Maxine Peake’s Hamlet, directed by Sarah Frankcom. This was a much anticipated production – Peake... Read more... |
theartsdesk Olympics: En Garde! Fencing on Stage and ScreenTuesday, 31 July 2012Is that a sabre you see before you? It could be if you’re talking any of multiple stage and screen versions of Hamlet, the Shakespeare play that puts centre-stage arguably the most esoteric of all Olympics activities: fencing. (Well, OK, beach... Read more... |
Globe to Globe: Hamlet, Shakespeare's GlobeMonday, 04 June 2012We’re fresh out of superlatives. The Globe to Globe season has put a girdle around the earth in 37 languages, and the visiting companies have now left the building. You have to high-five the Globe’s chutzpah for mounting this wondrous contribution... Read more... |
Hamlet, Young Vic TheatreThursday, 10 November 2011First come the strip-lit corridors, the stained breeze blocks, the locked doors; later there are restraints, drugs, needles. The time is out of joint, and we are all imprisoned in a nightmare of confusion, paranoia, guilt and despair. Who are the... Read more... |
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Theatre Royal HaymarketTuesday, 21 June 2011Lightning hasn't quite struck twice at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, where Trevor Nunn's dazzling reclamation of early Terence Rattigan (Flare Path) has been followed by the same director's transfer from Chichester of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are... Read more... |