How do I review a Shakespeare play? It's hard to review such brilliant productions anyway, due to the sheer talent of the ensemble, directing, music and design but add Shakespeare's brilliant words and language on top of it and I'm stuck with one brilliant experience but another feeling of dread as I know this review will be difficult to write!!
Well, let me start off by saying this: This was a beautiful, wonderful and intelligent piece of theatre that showed a brilliant representation of gender and race in an exciting world of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
I watched this production on the 6th of April as it airs on The Globe's YouTube channel and I absolutely loved it!
Michelle Terry makes for an excellent Hamlet who provides a talented use of the language and the adaptation of it to suit her version of the character. Providing a cruel but altogether struggling and heart broken Hamlet who has been tortured by her fathers will to avenge his death.
This turning into madness is helped by the great metaphor of her costume designed by Ellan Parry. Hamlet wears a clown costume through most of the production. If you know the story of Hamlet, he pretends to be mad to get his way but soon starts to actually turn mad. This is shown through the costume by it first looking pristine and perfect and turning into an unkept outfit. For example, the make up is rubbed and the buttons are open as she turns mad.
Terry is supported onstage by a brilliant ensemble including Shubham Saraf who plays Ophelia. Saraf has a brilliant master of the language just as Terry does but Saraf's scenes are much more beautiful and tragic as she turns into a madness which is inflicted towards herself than to other people. It was interesting to see these two characters be gender-swapped as it provided an excellent look into the audiences heads of what deemed funny or not. This is shown in the 'get thee to a nunnery' scene which the audience laughed at. However, this is a scene of abuse that Hamlet is delivering on Ophelia. If it was played with Hamlet being a man, the audience won't be laughing then.
Although the main characters were very talented and brilliant in their roles (with special mention to Helen Schlesinger as Gertrude, Catrin Aaron as Horatio and Richard Katz as Polonius) the people who really blew me away where the supporting roles who featured as the characters of the 1st player, the gravedigger and Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.
Guildenstern and Rosencrantz were two brilliant characters played by Nadia Nadarajah and Pearce Quigley respectively. They were the perfect double act of comedy and I must say, I believe Quigley is the driving force of this. Previously, I have watched Quigley played in my favourite play as Bottom in Dominic Dromgoole's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This and his Rosencrantz character were absolutely brilliant and well acted comedic roles. Whereas Nadarajah brought something entirely new to the character and added another depth to this production. Naadarajah is a physical theatre and bilingual artist who uses BSL in her work. This provides a brilliant comment on the characters of Hamlet who knows how to speak it fluently whereas characters like Polonius and Claudius (James Garnon) cannot.
Jack Laskey also deserves a recognition on his brilliant delivery of both Fortinbras and the 1st players lines. Delivering a beautiful moment which really portrays the feeling of a brilliant and intense rehearsal without any of the daft comedy used in most versions of Hamlet.
As well as Colin Hurley who gave a talented display of emotion as both the Gravedigger and King Hamlet, the ghost. I thought his loving looks and moments with Hamlet as the ghost gave a further depth and understand to why Hamlet was so sad at his death and as the gravedigger portrayed a sweet and loving friend who gave hamlet and the audience some much needed company.
One thing that I didn't think I'll be getting while watching this production is a 4 set brass band played by Louise Anna Duggan (percussion), Hilary Besley (trombone), Stephanie Dyer (trombone) and Adam Crighton (Bass Trombone). I have always loved the sound of a brass band and this team met my expectations and delivered some excellent dramatic music composed by James Maloney. Making moments so much better by having this amazing band play on top of the Globe Balcony over the action.
Overall, I really enjoyed this piece and cannot wait for the next streamed production!
Be sure to catch Hamlet by the 20th of April on the Globe YouTube Channel