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lareinenoireFirst of all, apologies for the delay. First I was ill, and then I was travelling, and now I have time to transcribe my many, many notes.
To preface, I know a lot of people who saw this production and were disappointed, including several of my friends. I absolutely loved it -- but, this was my first experience seeing Hamlet performed live. I've seen three of the films (Olivier, Zeffirelli, and Branagh), and I've read it several times over (most recently with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cesario's brilliant recaps), but seeing it performed was amazing, and I felt like I was rediscovering why I used to love this play so very, very much. I still do, but I think it's been spoiled by an excess of criticism, and watching it was astonishingly liberating.
Anyway. Here we go.
Overall, this was a great production, I thought. Even if I suspect it would have been even better on a thrust stage and was obviously designed that way since it opened in the Courtyard.
The set was the same mirrorlike lacquer that they used for Love's Labour's Lost, but I think it worked to greater effect thematically in Hamlet. Set pieces were periodically brought out (a dais, a bed, the grave, etc), but for the most part they just worked with the bare stage and the actors. Setting was generic modern -- at first I wondered if it was Interwar, based on the costumes Gertrude and Claudius wore, but the other characters made it clearer. Nice interpretation of Claudius' 'Switzers' as extremely ceremonical guards. Gertrude had some trouble with her gowns, particularly in the first scene, but that didn't stop me from thinking they were absolutely stunning.
They kept most of the battlements scene, and staged it in total darkness, lit only with massive, hand-held spotlights. With the mirrored walls and floor, this was a really neat effect. Horatio (Peter de Jersey) felt like the physical opposite of Hamlet -- very solid and there. And sensible. When the Ghost appeared for the first time, he moved out of the way. The speech about why the Ghost may have come back makes me giggle -- I can't help it; if you were a ghost, would you tell Horatio where you hid your super-secret treasure? -- but here there was an air of desperation that worked quite well.
How awesome was Patrick Stewart as Claudius? So awesome. He was beautifully understated and subtle, and no matter what happened, he was always in control. And if I hadn't already been a fangirl of Penny Downie after reading her essay about Margaret in Players of Shakespeare, her Gertrude would have singlehandedly made me a fangirl. She had this way of glancing at Hamlet every now and then with this absolutely heartbreaking expression that spoke volumes of frustration and love. Because this Gertrude did love her son -- the problem being that she also loved Claudius (and I can totally see why, in this production, as I could in the Branagh film). Her first husband was a fighter -- this one is a diplomat. And Hamlet is a moody adolescent who Doesn't Get It.
One of the problems I had with Branagh's Hamlet was that he just felt too old (which is nothing against his performance, which I thought was very good in its own way). David Tennant did not have that problem -- he was every inch the moody teenager, with just the right amount of self-conscious emo thrown in. You could see why he was acting like this, but you could also see why everyone else was so frustrated. The 'too, too solid flesh' speech, for instance, hurt. It was raw and emotion and he kept curling into a ball on the stage as if to keep from falling apart. (Sidenote: There was this fantastic moment during Claudius' big speech where he literally looked at Hamlet for a few seconds, seemed on the verge of speaking, but decided to deal with the easier Laertes instead).
Speaking of Laertes, it was rather weird to see Edward Bennett and Mariah Gale as brother and sister after Love's Labour's Lost.rosamund and I couldn't help but wonder if they were trying to make a statement about Laertes' obsession with his sister's sex life. Ophelia was lovely in this scene, teasing and whimsical -- a counterpoint to Hamlet's bitterness -- but ultimately powerless against her father's edicts. There was genuine fondness between her and Laertes, though, which I thought came over very well; normally I don't like Laertes at all, but eve this short scene built up enough of a relationship between him and Ophelia that his grief makes far more sense later on.
Polonius (Oliver Ford Davies), however, stole every scene he was in. Seriously. He was this hilarious, cantankerous, doddery old man who absolutely worshipped Claudius (and probably had less respect for Old Hamlet the warrior king who no doubt had little interest in a well-turned phrase). I loved that the last few of his precepts were recited aloud by both his children. This was a harmless Polonius, even -- dare I say it? -- likeable at times. I was genuinely sorry when he died.
It ended up coming as a surprise to me when I realised Patrick Stewart was also playing the Ghost. He differentiated between them so well -- the Ghost was Big and Scary and Emotional, all the opposite of Claudius. It did make for an interesting moment later when Hamlet showed Gertrude the pictures of his father and Claudius and pointed out the differences. Really poignant reading of the lines when Hamlet first addressed the Ghost; he seemed so very young, a boy crying after his lost father, adrift and frightened. Only there's no comfort from this father. An injunction instead, and an order to commit murder in hopes of revenging murder. Hamlet's literal fighting against Horatio and Marcellus to follow the Ghost anticipated how much he seems to want to be mad. Anything to keep him from having to think.
As for the exchange between Hamlet and the Ghost, it whips him up into such a frenzy -- Tennant certainly seemed to be taking the viewpoint that Hamlet suspected Claudius of some foul play and that the Ghost confirmed it. The swearing bit was great as well, with Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus running around the stage, the Ghost's voice blasting from everywhere and nowhere at once.
They moved 'To be, or not to be' to the Q1 location, in the middle of Act II, which I thought worked very well, especially on the heels of Ophelia's outburst to her father. Of course that makes it all the worse for her, since it meant the nunnery scene came almost on the heels of her humiliation in front of Claudius and Gertrude. After the Kastan lecture, I had rather hoped to see Hamlet entering with a book, but he did not. He had, however, reverted from black tie to jeans and a T-shirt and was wandering around barefoot, with an air of general distractedness. They did cut a few lines from the speech, which I only noticed because I memorised it in tenth grade. The train of thought still worked.
The nunnery scene wasn't as charged at first as it could have been, but the tension was building by the end. I loved that Hamlet looked straight at where Claudius was hiding on the line 'They that are married already...', and methodically ripped Ophelia's 'remembrances' to pieces as he said it. Earlier, the sheer awkwardness of Ophelia standing silent while Polonius read Hamlet's letter aloud was just painful. And now he all but forgot she was even there, crumpled on the floor, and when he did notice her, didn't see how genuinely frightened she was. It was one moment where I did hate Polonius -- unless she's being of use to him, his daughter may not exist.
Rosencrantz (Sam Alexander) and Guildernstern (Tom Davey) looked like textbook preppy college boys, the type who spend all their time drinking and idling -- in other words, Not Horatio. I did like their hesitance when Hamlet interrogated them. The fact that the same actors played Dumaine and Longueville to Tennant's Berowne, I just found hilarious on its own merits. The 'fishmonger' scene -- and, really, all of Hamlet's interactions with Polonius -- were fantastic. And Hamlet attempting to perform the Player King's speech was adorable -- he is such a fanboy.
The clowning before the 'Mouse-Trap' was very silly but that was, I suppose, what was required. Loved the scene between Hamlet and Horatio beforehand, where the contrast between them was so very apparent. The little segment with Ophelia was quite good as well, though what I really liked was the scandalised looks Gertrude kept giving them. I think she rather likes Ophelia.
The same during the play. Gertrude kept darting nervous glances at Hamlet. Claudius, on the other hand, was completely intent on the play. In the downstage left corner, Hamlet was sprawled in Ophelia's lap, as he threatened. It was actually a rather sweet picture. Ironic, that. They actually did the full dumbshow beforehand (aforementioned clowning) and the 'Mouse-Trap' itself was staged in full Elizabethan dress, very dramatic black-and-gold. I was repeatedly reminded of Stage Beauty, watching the Player Queen (Ryan Gage).
Claudius' interruption was incredibly calm and deliberate. He rose slowly, quietly requested some light, and shone the lantern in question directly at Hamlet for a few moments before exiting. Now I have wondered for some time why Lucianus is nephew to the king -- if Claudius were, by chance, innocent, surely nobody could blame him for being cautious about his own nephew after that.rosamund pointed out rightly that the next big soliloquy of Claudius' was necessary to make it absolutely clear that he was guilty. Otherwise, all of Hamlet's motivations would be suspect.
The interval break was cheesy -- yes -- but I liked it in its sheer lack of shame. Hamlet poised behind Claudius, penknife upraised, and the line 'Now I'll do't!' as the stage went black. It reminded me of the ending of 3 Henry VI, and I am unashamed to say that I found that ending absolutely thrilling. This wasn't quite on that level, but I appreciate the attempt.
The second half, of course, began right on the heels of that line. Poor Hamlet. All that energy and nothing he can do -- except channel it into the closet scene with Gertrude, which was possibly the best scene in the entire production. It began with Gertrude displaying no patience whatsoever for Polonius' nattering as Hamlet entered -- again, he hid behind one of the mirrors in lieu of an arras. The tension here between Hamlet and Gertrude was just amazing and with not even a drop of that accursed Oedipal stuff that I have never liked. No more than a grief-stricken, confused, terrified young man trying to make sense of a mother he can no longer understand. It really went beatufiully with how much emphasis there is in the 'Mouse-Trap' on the Player Queen and her actions. Tennant had me believing that, up to this point, Hamlet truly thought -- whether or not he was able to articulate it -- that Gertrude was aware of Claudius' crimes. And Downie made it equally and painfully clear that even if she had suspicions, she hadn't truly believed Claudius was responsible. And her reaction to watching Hamlet kill Polonius -- gorgeously done, with a revolver shattering the mirror that remained cracked for the rest of the play -- was just heartbreaking. Even if she did think him mad, now she knew why.
Brilliant moment after Hamlet's departure when Claudius came up behind Gertrude and she jumped about a foot in the air before clinging to him for dear life. That poor, poor woman.
Hamlet did get to deliver that really creepy line about Claudius metaphorically eating Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. And Tennant was absolutely manic in these scenes, to the point where I wasn't altogether sure I could blame Claudius for wanting to get rid of him. Not to kill him, obviously, but Hamlet's ability to shoot courtiers and continue to act like he'd done nothing out of the ordinary was a bit scary -- as though he put on the mad persona and the scared boy from Gertrude's closet vanished altogether. Great moment at the end when Hamlet (tied to an office chair) wheeled himself off in a perfect impression of a hyperactive five-year-old. A few Doctorish mannerisms here and there, but I felt Tennant managed to divorce himself from that role and create an independently brilliant Hamlet.
Ophelia's mad scene were...okay. I don't think I disliked Mariah Gale's Ophelia, but I preferred her more whimsical take toward the beginning. It might have been more creepily effective if she'd smiled more in her madness as Hamlet did -- they did seem to be going for an echo effect between her and Tennant. Not sure why she ripped off most of her clothing either, but to each their own.
Laertes' entrance was very effective and I actually felt for him -- partly based on his sweetness to Ophelia earlier, and during the short scene they had here. I genuinely believed that he did care for his sister and his father, rather than just being macho. Also approved the leather-jacket revolutionary look. Especially in contrast to Hamlet's nomadic backpacker impression.
The Gravedigger was brilliant, and so were Hamlet and Horatio's interactions with him. Again, Laertes was quite effective in his grief for Ophelia, as was Hamlet. But Gertrude really caught my eye here. The first to reach Ophelia's grave and the last to leave it. I really felt the odd kinship between these two women, trying to stay sane in a world spiralling out of control.
Still not sure how much I like the last act of Hamlet as a text, but it was staged very well here. They didn't shy away from the volley of deaths at the end, and every death had its own character. Gertrude heard Claudius' plea and looked him the eye as she drank. Claudius, in his turn, raised the glass to Hamlet, drank, and fell as he reached toward Gertrude (none of this forced drinking -- I could never see Claudius as a man who let anyone order him around, even to kill him). Laertes told the truth, and Hamlet begged to be remembered. And poor Horatio left to bury them all.
They omitted the last lines with Fortinbras, which I did not like, but I suppose the production was already running long. Still, isn't part of the point that everything Hamlet's been agonising about ultimately does not matter?
A great production overall. I really felt that Tennant's Hamlet was mad only in that what made sense in his head did not make any sense to anyone else. Which is, surely, the crux of madness. He could see all the connections while we only caught glimpses. And those glimpses (like in the closet scene) were absolutely wrenching. I am so glad I had the chance to see this.
I do feel bad posting this, knowing that anyone who sees this production between now and Christmas won't be seeing David Tennant, but I do want to say that Edward Bennett made a fantastic Laertes (he made me like Laertes, something I never would have predicted), so I can only assume he'll be a wonderful Hamlet as well.
To preface, I know a lot of people who saw this production and were disappointed, including several of my friends. I absolutely loved it -- but, this was my first experience seeing Hamlet performed live. I've seen three of the films (Olivier, Zeffirelli, and Branagh), and I've read it several times over (most recently with
cesario's brilliant recaps), but seeing it performed was amazing, and I felt like I was rediscovering why I used to love this play so very, very much. I still do, but I think it's been spoiled by an excess of criticism, and watching it was astonishingly liberating.Anyway. Here we go.
Overall, this was a great production, I thought. Even if I suspect it would have been even better on a thrust stage and was obviously designed that way since it opened in the Courtyard.
The set was the same mirrorlike lacquer that they used for Love's Labour's Lost, but I think it worked to greater effect thematically in Hamlet. Set pieces were periodically brought out (a dais, a bed, the grave, etc), but for the most part they just worked with the bare stage and the actors. Setting was generic modern -- at first I wondered if it was Interwar, based on the costumes Gertrude and Claudius wore, but the other characters made it clearer. Nice interpretation of Claudius' 'Switzers' as extremely ceremonical guards. Gertrude had some trouble with her gowns, particularly in the first scene, but that didn't stop me from thinking they were absolutely stunning.
They kept most of the battlements scene, and staged it in total darkness, lit only with massive, hand-held spotlights. With the mirrored walls and floor, this was a really neat effect. Horatio (Peter de Jersey) felt like the physical opposite of Hamlet -- very solid and there. And sensible. When the Ghost appeared for the first time, he moved out of the way. The speech about why the Ghost may have come back makes me giggle -- I can't help it; if you were a ghost, would you tell Horatio where you hid your super-secret treasure? -- but here there was an air of desperation that worked quite well.
How awesome was Patrick Stewart as Claudius? So awesome. He was beautifully understated and subtle, and no matter what happened, he was always in control. And if I hadn't already been a fangirl of Penny Downie after reading her essay about Margaret in Players of Shakespeare, her Gertrude would have singlehandedly made me a fangirl. She had this way of glancing at Hamlet every now and then with this absolutely heartbreaking expression that spoke volumes of frustration and love. Because this Gertrude did love her son -- the problem being that she also loved Claudius (and I can totally see why, in this production, as I could in the Branagh film). Her first husband was a fighter -- this one is a diplomat. And Hamlet is a moody adolescent who Doesn't Get It.
One of the problems I had with Branagh's Hamlet was that he just felt too old (which is nothing against his performance, which I thought was very good in its own way). David Tennant did not have that problem -- he was every inch the moody teenager, with just the right amount of self-conscious emo thrown in. You could see why he was acting like this, but you could also see why everyone else was so frustrated. The 'too, too solid flesh' speech, for instance, hurt. It was raw and emotion and he kept curling into a ball on the stage as if to keep from falling apart. (Sidenote: There was this fantastic moment during Claudius' big speech where he literally looked at Hamlet for a few seconds, seemed on the verge of speaking, but decided to deal with the easier Laertes instead).
Speaking of Laertes, it was rather weird to see Edward Bennett and Mariah Gale as brother and sister after Love's Labour's Lost.
rosamund and I couldn't help but wonder if they were trying to make a statement about Laertes' obsession with his sister's sex life. Ophelia was lovely in this scene, teasing and whimsical -- a counterpoint to Hamlet's bitterness -- but ultimately powerless against her father's edicts. There was genuine fondness between her and Laertes, though, which I thought came over very well; normally I don't like Laertes at all, but eve this short scene built up enough of a relationship between him and Ophelia that his grief makes far more sense later on.Polonius (Oliver Ford Davies), however, stole every scene he was in. Seriously. He was this hilarious, cantankerous, doddery old man who absolutely worshipped Claudius (and probably had less respect for Old Hamlet the warrior king who no doubt had little interest in a well-turned phrase). I loved that the last few of his precepts were recited aloud by both his children. This was a harmless Polonius, even -- dare I say it? -- likeable at times. I was genuinely sorry when he died.
It ended up coming as a surprise to me when I realised Patrick Stewart was also playing the Ghost. He differentiated between them so well -- the Ghost was Big and Scary and Emotional, all the opposite of Claudius. It did make for an interesting moment later when Hamlet showed Gertrude the pictures of his father and Claudius and pointed out the differences. Really poignant reading of the lines when Hamlet first addressed the Ghost; he seemed so very young, a boy crying after his lost father, adrift and frightened. Only there's no comfort from this father. An injunction instead, and an order to commit murder in hopes of revenging murder. Hamlet's literal fighting against Horatio and Marcellus to follow the Ghost anticipated how much he seems to want to be mad. Anything to keep him from having to think.
As for the exchange between Hamlet and the Ghost, it whips him up into such a frenzy -- Tennant certainly seemed to be taking the viewpoint that Hamlet suspected Claudius of some foul play and that the Ghost confirmed it. The swearing bit was great as well, with Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus running around the stage, the Ghost's voice blasting from everywhere and nowhere at once.
They moved 'To be, or not to be' to the Q1 location, in the middle of Act II, which I thought worked very well, especially on the heels of Ophelia's outburst to her father. Of course that makes it all the worse for her, since it meant the nunnery scene came almost on the heels of her humiliation in front of Claudius and Gertrude. After the Kastan lecture, I had rather hoped to see Hamlet entering with a book, but he did not. He had, however, reverted from black tie to jeans and a T-shirt and was wandering around barefoot, with an air of general distractedness. They did cut a few lines from the speech, which I only noticed because I memorised it in tenth grade. The train of thought still worked.
The nunnery scene wasn't as charged at first as it could have been, but the tension was building by the end. I loved that Hamlet looked straight at where Claudius was hiding on the line 'They that are married already...', and methodically ripped Ophelia's 'remembrances' to pieces as he said it. Earlier, the sheer awkwardness of Ophelia standing silent while Polonius read Hamlet's letter aloud was just painful. And now he all but forgot she was even there, crumpled on the floor, and when he did notice her, didn't see how genuinely frightened she was. It was one moment where I did hate Polonius -- unless she's being of use to him, his daughter may not exist.
Rosencrantz (Sam Alexander) and Guildernstern (Tom Davey) looked like textbook preppy college boys, the type who spend all their time drinking and idling -- in other words, Not Horatio. I did like their hesitance when Hamlet interrogated them. The fact that the same actors played Dumaine and Longueville to Tennant's Berowne, I just found hilarious on its own merits. The 'fishmonger' scene -- and, really, all of Hamlet's interactions with Polonius -- were fantastic. And Hamlet attempting to perform the Player King's speech was adorable -- he is such a fanboy.
The clowning before the 'Mouse-Trap' was very silly but that was, I suppose, what was required. Loved the scene between Hamlet and Horatio beforehand, where the contrast between them was so very apparent. The little segment with Ophelia was quite good as well, though what I really liked was the scandalised looks Gertrude kept giving them. I think she rather likes Ophelia.
The same during the play. Gertrude kept darting nervous glances at Hamlet. Claudius, on the other hand, was completely intent on the play. In the downstage left corner, Hamlet was sprawled in Ophelia's lap, as he threatened. It was actually a rather sweet picture. Ironic, that. They actually did the full dumbshow beforehand (aforementioned clowning) and the 'Mouse-Trap' itself was staged in full Elizabethan dress, very dramatic black-and-gold. I was repeatedly reminded of Stage Beauty, watching the Player Queen (Ryan Gage).
Claudius' interruption was incredibly calm and deliberate. He rose slowly, quietly requested some light, and shone the lantern in question directly at Hamlet for a few moments before exiting. Now I have wondered for some time why Lucianus is nephew to the king -- if Claudius were, by chance, innocent, surely nobody could blame him for being cautious about his own nephew after that.
rosamund pointed out rightly that the next big soliloquy of Claudius' was necessary to make it absolutely clear that he was guilty. Otherwise, all of Hamlet's motivations would be suspect.The interval break was cheesy -- yes -- but I liked it in its sheer lack of shame. Hamlet poised behind Claudius, penknife upraised, and the line 'Now I'll do't!' as the stage went black. It reminded me of the ending of 3 Henry VI, and I am unashamed to say that I found that ending absolutely thrilling. This wasn't quite on that level, but I appreciate the attempt.
The second half, of course, began right on the heels of that line. Poor Hamlet. All that energy and nothing he can do -- except channel it into the closet scene with Gertrude, which was possibly the best scene in the entire production. It began with Gertrude displaying no patience whatsoever for Polonius' nattering as Hamlet entered -- again, he hid behind one of the mirrors in lieu of an arras. The tension here between Hamlet and Gertrude was just amazing and with not even a drop of that accursed Oedipal stuff that I have never liked. No more than a grief-stricken, confused, terrified young man trying to make sense of a mother he can no longer understand. It really went beatufiully with how much emphasis there is in the 'Mouse-Trap' on the Player Queen and her actions. Tennant had me believing that, up to this point, Hamlet truly thought -- whether or not he was able to articulate it -- that Gertrude was aware of Claudius' crimes. And Downie made it equally and painfully clear that even if she had suspicions, she hadn't truly believed Claudius was responsible. And her reaction to watching Hamlet kill Polonius -- gorgeously done, with a revolver shattering the mirror that remained cracked for the rest of the play -- was just heartbreaking. Even if she did think him mad, now she knew why.
Brilliant moment after Hamlet's departure when Claudius came up behind Gertrude and she jumped about a foot in the air before clinging to him for dear life. That poor, poor woman.
Hamlet did get to deliver that really creepy line about Claudius metaphorically eating Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. And Tennant was absolutely manic in these scenes, to the point where I wasn't altogether sure I could blame Claudius for wanting to get rid of him. Not to kill him, obviously, but Hamlet's ability to shoot courtiers and continue to act like he'd done nothing out of the ordinary was a bit scary -- as though he put on the mad persona and the scared boy from Gertrude's closet vanished altogether. Great moment at the end when Hamlet (tied to an office chair) wheeled himself off in a perfect impression of a hyperactive five-year-old. A few Doctorish mannerisms here and there, but I felt Tennant managed to divorce himself from that role and create an independently brilliant Hamlet.
Ophelia's mad scene were...okay. I don't think I disliked Mariah Gale's Ophelia, but I preferred her more whimsical take toward the beginning. It might have been more creepily effective if she'd smiled more in her madness as Hamlet did -- they did seem to be going for an echo effect between her and Tennant. Not sure why she ripped off most of her clothing either, but to each their own.
Laertes' entrance was very effective and I actually felt for him -- partly based on his sweetness to Ophelia earlier, and during the short scene they had here. I genuinely believed that he did care for his sister and his father, rather than just being macho. Also approved the leather-jacket revolutionary look. Especially in contrast to Hamlet's nomadic backpacker impression.
The Gravedigger was brilliant, and so were Hamlet and Horatio's interactions with him. Again, Laertes was quite effective in his grief for Ophelia, as was Hamlet. But Gertrude really caught my eye here. The first to reach Ophelia's grave and the last to leave it. I really felt the odd kinship between these two women, trying to stay sane in a world spiralling out of control.
Still not sure how much I like the last act of Hamlet as a text, but it was staged very well here. They didn't shy away from the volley of deaths at the end, and every death had its own character. Gertrude heard Claudius' plea and looked him the eye as she drank. Claudius, in his turn, raised the glass to Hamlet, drank, and fell as he reached toward Gertrude (none of this forced drinking -- I could never see Claudius as a man who let anyone order him around, even to kill him). Laertes told the truth, and Hamlet begged to be remembered. And poor Horatio left to bury them all.
They omitted the last lines with Fortinbras, which I did not like, but I suppose the production was already running long. Still, isn't part of the point that everything Hamlet's been agonising about ultimately does not matter?
A great production overall. I really felt that Tennant's Hamlet was mad only in that what made sense in his head did not make any sense to anyone else. Which is, surely, the crux of madness. He could see all the connections while we only caught glimpses. And those glimpses (like in the closet scene) were absolutely wrenching. I am so glad I had the chance to see this.
I do feel bad posting this, knowing that anyone who sees this production between now and Christmas won't be seeing David Tennant, but I do want to say that Edward Bennett made a fantastic Laertes (he made me like Laertes, something I never would have predicted), so I can only assume he'll be a wonderful Hamlet as well.
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Date: 2008-12-15 03:30 am (UTC)Heh, I would just like to note that this is precisely the conclusion Severus does come to in "The Lamentable Comedy." Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this way :)
And the play sounds fantastic! Thanks for posting about it in so much detail.
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Date: 2008-12-15 03:38 am (UTC)And, no, you're far from the only person who wondered about that. I think
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Date: 2008-12-15 03:48 am (UTC)But then, I have a real weakness for Laertes. He's really one of my favorites; every time, I come back to him with a new way of reading him, a new way of drawing him as a character. He's quite complexly written--even if complexity is the new writerly cliche. But that is my Laertes-babble. >_>;
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Date: 2008-12-15 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2008-12-15 04:36 am (UTC)No need to apologize, silly--the fact that you did this at all is awesome!
It sounds like a really good production, and like it hit a lot of the notes I'd want to see but don't feel like I have yet. Like this:
he seemed so very young, a boy crying after his lost father, adrift and frightened. Only there's no comfort from this father.
Yes, exactly. The Ghost always horrifies me. I mean, I know that's what ghosts *do*, come back to be avenged, but that lack of kindness and comfort, when Hamlet is so broken, is always hard for me.
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Date: 2008-12-15 01:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-15 04:53 am (UTC)(yes, sometimes I am a grump about that. Just one of those things.)
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Date: 2008-12-17 01:24 pm (UTC)I was rather looking forward to Mad Ophelia based on how Gale played her in the earlier scenes, but it really felt like she lost some of that energy. Maybe because those scenes are so weird. And there's so much pressure on Ophelia there.
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Date: 2008-12-17 10:43 am (UTC)(We got Guildenstern standing in for Laertes, and someone else for Guildenstern. They did a very good job as well, if a less difficult one.)
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Date: 2008-12-17 01:26 pm (UTC)I could really see that. It's not one thing in particular, but Tennant does have a very specific style that's not easy to mimic, and when you've got a production of Hamlet of all things, that is so obviously tailored to a specific interpretation of the protagonist, it must be incredibly difficult for any understudy to step in. But I'm very glad people are appreciating him -- it cannot possibly be easy stepping in for David Tennant!
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