HAMLET by William Shakespeare

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Artscape Theatre

18 July 2024 - 07 August 2024

Old Hamlet, King of Denmark has died and been succeeded by his brother, Claudius, who has married Gertrude, the widowed Queen. Hamlet, Gertrude’s son, distressed by his father’s death and his mother’s hasty remarriage is visited by the ghost of his father. The Ghost tells Hamlet he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet vows revenge. To cover his intentions, he feigns madness.

Polonius, chief counsellor to the King, believes Hamlet’s madness is caused by repressed love for his daughter, Ophelia. Spied on by Polonius and Claudius, Hamlet encounters Ophelia and violently rejects her.

A company of players arrives and Hamlet asks them to perform a play, hoping that its similarity to the murder of his father will force Claudius to betray his guilt. Hamlet’s suspicions are confirmed. He visits his mother, reviling her for her hasty remarriage and accidentally kills Polonius. Claudius sends Hamlet to England, planning to have him murdered.

Laertes, Polonius’ son, demands revenge for his father’s death. His sister, Ophelia, maddened by grief, drowns herself. Hamlet returns and confronts Laertes at her funeral. Claudius and Laertes plot to kill Hamlet in a fencing match in which Laertes will have a poisoned sword. The plot miscarries and Laertes dies. Gertrude drinks from a poisoned cup intended for Hamlet and also dies. Hamlet, wounded by the poisoned sword, kills Claudius before he, too, dies.

With 9 out of 11 main characters dying, Hamlet can be regarded as the tragedy of all tragedies. Delicately portrayed by Abrahamse & Meyer Productions, this version recently graced the Artscape Theatre stage after a successful run in Europe's esteemed Shakespeare Festival.

This rendition of Hamlet was delivered in the traditional Shakespearian English, for some, hard to follow, but far more authentic. As Horatio mentioned when he addressed the audience pre-show, this is how Shakespeare was meant to be experienced - not in a book or a classroom, but on a stage, live and engaging.

The set was minimal - essentially a black box on the mainstage, with a revolving platform and a large flat 'bed' with gold accents. The large platform served as multiple furniture pieces throughout. Unusually, the backstage area of the theatre was also used and served as the "outside/garden" setting. Bare trees and low lighting created the illusion of the soldiers on the walls of the castle. This very deep performance space was a nice choice, however, it created sight-line restrictions, and anyone on the outside 5 or 6 seats of the auditorium, wasn't able to see all the action.

The costumes, designed by Meyer (who also played the treasonous Claudius) were designed to appear 'grunge' and deconstructed, and added to the underlying theme of the characters' lives falling apart. The King and Queen looked regal with black and gold robes, while the dual roles were hidden with clever costuming on the performers. Lungile Lallie, who played Gertrude, exuded a wonderful Wakanda-esque presence and was by far one of my favourites on stage.

The lighting, by Artscape's in-house lighting designer, Faheem Bardien, was, as always, superb. A seemingly excessive amount of lighting fixtures, each delicately and discreetly used, added texture and focus throughout the performance. It ensured, at all times, that your attention was where the director wanted it. The use of colour was relatively restrained, except the scenes where Polonius dies, and the puppet show that reveals Claudius' adultery, was strongly emphasised by a deep and over-powering red that dominated the stage.

The direction was well executed, with good use of the stage area & soundscapes. This, combined with the lighting, made even the characters' consecutive entrances a visual feast. I'd not previously appreciated the comedic elements in Hamlet, but the performers had excellent timing, and the audience was engaged and audibly enjoyed it when humour was expressed.

The sound design was mostly atmospheric underscoring, with some very heavy and dramatic compositions that shook to the core. There were times that the sound distracted slightly, with tones that sounded like a mobile phone ringing, or being too soft to quite make out what it meant to contribute. The use of the fire escape door as a stage exit was a huge flaw, as it was open for most of the first act (using the backstage area meant nothing was concealing the building infrastructure). This let in not just lighting, but silhouettes of all the people moving about in the stairwell, that weren't part of the play. There was also a charming bright-red firehose-reel and extinguisher that could have hidden behind a black drape, instead of standing out on stage.

With limited use of props and special effect gimmicks, the acting was the core of this production. The audience's unanimous standing ovation with the curtain call was a testament that even the heavy Shakespearian English couldn't overshadow the tactful technical design and good direction and expression of Hamlet.