Post by Queen Mab on Sept 1, 2010 10:30:00 GMT
On Friday I went to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's library to watch Hamlet at the archives.
It's filmed on a static camera and the quality is poor, most of the times you can't see mouths moving, but you are quite close to the action (compared to others I have seen at the archive). That's probably due to the staging.
The stage was designed by Tom Piper and consisted of a bare (possibly wooden?) floor and curved wall, which gave a great sense of space. The back wall had doors which appeared from nowhere, then closed again. At one point (when Fortinbras and the captain were speaking), the doors opened and the wall behind the main wall lifted up, flooding the space with bright blue light. It was quite effective at suddenly changing the feel of the space, it felt much more open as though we were now outside (the same happens when Fortinbras invades in the last scene).
Terry King directed the fights. The fencing match was much more traditional parries and blocks, compared to the recent more frenetic & passionate fight between David Tennant and Edward Bennett.
I wasn't impressed with Toby Stephens' Hamlet. While a good actor, and a good verse speaker, he played his Hamlet quite arrogant and pompous. Quite angry, and rather mad - to me, there was no question that this Hamlet had gone mad, rather than feigning madness. When he swears his oath, he's writing it down in a book... shortly after psychotically stabbing the floor with his sword, so much so that it sticks in the stage floor.
Meg Fraser's Ophelia was passable, as was Forbes Masson's Horatio. They aquitted themselves well, but nothing about the performances were note worthy, really. Especially being as the 2008 version is so fresh in my mind. Gale's Ophelia's descent into madness was uncomfortable to watch and De Jersey's Horatio felt like a proper friend to Hamlet - here there is little emotional response to either. Fraser's Ophelia seemed distracted rather than insane. Instead of flowers she threw what appeared to be letters at Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude. I didn't care much for Richard Cordery's Polonius. He seemed to smart and too aware of what was going on, Polonius should be a bit of a well-meaning but bumbling fool, yet he didn't seem to be. Gideon Turner gave a good Laertes. There's not much sibling love going on and Ophelia seems rather opressed by both father and brother. I didn't much believe his grief at Ophelia's madness, but he did cut a rather sympathetic figure during the final scenes. Hamlet also properly ran him through during the fight - made much more sense than the 2008 Hamlet... if they both only get cut on the neck, why does Laertes die so much more quickly?! Oh, Hamlet also forces the wine down Claudius' throat. No camp shrug of acceptance from Clive Wood! This production does away with the character of Reynaldo, replacing him with Osric.
I enjoyed John McKay's Rosencrantz, played with his usual Scottish accent but seeming rather camp. I quite liked this, as I got the impression that perhaps Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were a gay couple!
By far my favourite performance came from Greg Hicks, having the triple role of the Ghost, Player King and Gravedigger. His Ghost enters the stage from a ramp into the audience. His skin is all white, and he wears a tattered skirt style loin cloth around his waist. He drags a large metal sword along the floor, and he makes an eerie grinding noise as he makes his way up to the stage. Unfortunately, you can't actually see any of this. The camera only captures the final moments as he arrives on the stage. While on stage the Ghost swings and sword slowly around, almost like a ballet.
(He wasn't actually bewigged by the time they got to stage, this is an early promo shot).
The reason I loved it so, is that later on, when he appears as the Player giving his Priam speech, you forget that he's also the Ghost. Just another dual role, as you do in theatre. Then, when the play begins you realise that he's playing Gonzago. The Ghost is playing himself. He turns at one point and steps towards Claudius and Gertrude, it's very chilling. You almost wonder what The Ghost might say, or do, now he has the chance.
The BBC Hamlet website has more photos, in the Past Productions section. They mention that, as the Gravedigger, is shows how the Ghost of Hamlet's father is always haunting him. The 2nd Gravedigger was also played by Meg Fraser, so Ophelia was buring herself. I'm pretty sure this scene was heavily cut and rephrased, as I barely recognised any of the lines.
If you're interested in seeing a performance at the archives, visit Shakespeare Birthplace Trust website for more information.
It's filmed on a static camera and the quality is poor, most of the times you can't see mouths moving, but you are quite close to the action (compared to others I have seen at the archive). That's probably due to the staging.
The stage was designed by Tom Piper and consisted of a bare (possibly wooden?) floor and curved wall, which gave a great sense of space. The back wall had doors which appeared from nowhere, then closed again. At one point (when Fortinbras and the captain were speaking), the doors opened and the wall behind the main wall lifted up, flooding the space with bright blue light. It was quite effective at suddenly changing the feel of the space, it felt much more open as though we were now outside (the same happens when Fortinbras invades in the last scene).
Terry King directed the fights. The fencing match was much more traditional parries and blocks, compared to the recent more frenetic & passionate fight between David Tennant and Edward Bennett.
I wasn't impressed with Toby Stephens' Hamlet. While a good actor, and a good verse speaker, he played his Hamlet quite arrogant and pompous. Quite angry, and rather mad - to me, there was no question that this Hamlet had gone mad, rather than feigning madness. When he swears his oath, he's writing it down in a book... shortly after psychotically stabbing the floor with his sword, so much so that it sticks in the stage floor.
Meg Fraser's Ophelia was passable, as was Forbes Masson's Horatio. They aquitted themselves well, but nothing about the performances were note worthy, really. Especially being as the 2008 version is so fresh in my mind. Gale's Ophelia's descent into madness was uncomfortable to watch and De Jersey's Horatio felt like a proper friend to Hamlet - here there is little emotional response to either. Fraser's Ophelia seemed distracted rather than insane. Instead of flowers she threw what appeared to be letters at Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude. I didn't care much for Richard Cordery's Polonius. He seemed to smart and too aware of what was going on, Polonius should be a bit of a well-meaning but bumbling fool, yet he didn't seem to be. Gideon Turner gave a good Laertes. There's not much sibling love going on and Ophelia seems rather opressed by both father and brother. I didn't much believe his grief at Ophelia's madness, but he did cut a rather sympathetic figure during the final scenes. Hamlet also properly ran him through during the fight - made much more sense than the 2008 Hamlet... if they both only get cut on the neck, why does Laertes die so much more quickly?! Oh, Hamlet also forces the wine down Claudius' throat. No camp shrug of acceptance from Clive Wood! This production does away with the character of Reynaldo, replacing him with Osric.
I enjoyed John McKay's Rosencrantz, played with his usual Scottish accent but seeming rather camp. I quite liked this, as I got the impression that perhaps Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were a gay couple!
By far my favourite performance came from Greg Hicks, having the triple role of the Ghost, Player King and Gravedigger. His Ghost enters the stage from a ramp into the audience. His skin is all white, and he wears a tattered skirt style loin cloth around his waist. He drags a large metal sword along the floor, and he makes an eerie grinding noise as he makes his way up to the stage. Unfortunately, you can't actually see any of this. The camera only captures the final moments as he arrives on the stage. While on stage the Ghost swings and sword slowly around, almost like a ballet.
(He wasn't actually bewigged by the time they got to stage, this is an early promo shot).
The reason I loved it so, is that later on, when he appears as the Player giving his Priam speech, you forget that he's also the Ghost. Just another dual role, as you do in theatre. Then, when the play begins you realise that he's playing Gonzago. The Ghost is playing himself. He turns at one point and steps towards Claudius and Gertrude, it's very chilling. You almost wonder what The Ghost might say, or do, now he has the chance.
The BBC Hamlet website has more photos, in the Past Productions section. They mention that, as the Gravedigger, is shows how the Ghost of Hamlet's father is always haunting him. The 2nd Gravedigger was also played by Meg Fraser, so Ophelia was buring herself. I'm pretty sure this scene was heavily cut and rephrased, as I barely recognised any of the lines.
If you're interested in seeing a performance at the archives, visit Shakespeare Birthplace Trust website for more information.