Thank goodness for Benedict Cumberbatch. He is by far and away the best thing about this erratic production. Some things are very good. The set by Es Devlin is extraordinary, I had not remembered the Barbican stage being so big. It's just a shame that outdoor scenes are still shown with that awesome indoor castle backcloth. As I say, erratic. Back to Cumberbatch. Yes, a class act, just a bit too angry and shouty for me, but that would probably have been better in the theatre rather than close up in the cinema.
Then we come to the direction of Lyndsey Turner. Oh dear! There are some truly weird moments and too many silly gimmicks: the toy fortress and Hamlet in scarlet soldier uniform, the awful staging of the play within a play, Ophelia and her piano, Hamlet's jacket with "King" emblazoned on the back. Talk about pandering to newcomers to Shakespeare. But then again there are some superb moments especially early on; the dinner and the ghost come to mind.
The director has obviously concentrated on her lead actor and forgotten the others. They are quite reasonable in themselves but their interaction is scarce. Take Ciaran Hinds and Anastasia Hille as the newly married Claudius and Getrude. Do they ever touch? Very strange. Sian Brooke is a fair actress, just miscast as Ophelia. I wont go on.
I have records of seeing Hamlet twice, once at the Phoenix Theatre in 1988 and on the same Barbican stage in 1993. Both times Hamlet was played by Kenneth Branagh, the first was probably the best acting I have ever seen. But then he was directed by Derek Jacobi.
PS An extract from a national daily follows:
The audience should leave the theatre with the memories of the performance foremost in their minds, not their ears ringing with a lecture about how Britain has a responsibility to do more for refugees. Hamlet is what they paid for, not a party political broadcast on behalf of the Luvvie Party.
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