Our guest reviewer, Jane Chapman, shares her views on the Live Screening of Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet.
Tickets in London were changing hands for up to £1,000! Nothing is quite like the real thing--but the the live screening at the Flavel last night --for £16.50 -- came close! We also enjoyed a lovely pre-show supper for just £11 including a glass of wine. So, a really good night out to see the show everyone's talking about, and to have a view.
Well, my view is a bit mixed: the staging was superb--from the glamour of the opening celebrations to the dirt, the "something rotten" of the last scenes. Some striking lighting and sound effects. Hamlet is timeless but I got a bit confused by the mixed-date costumes and props. What was Ophelia's camera all about and the red and green telephones?
But we all went to see Cumberbatch, didn't we?
Hamlet is a huge, lonely role. The soliloquies have been given many times by the best actors of the day. Cumberbatch seemed a little unsure of himself in the early scenes: there was nothing startlingly new or memorable in his deliveries. Then Ophelia, Sian Brooke, came on. She was superb throughout -- and her scenes with Cumberbatch were fresh and convincing. Thereafter, he grew in strength and confidence and created some outstanding moments of theatre: " O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I...."; the duel; the grave scene. Worthy of special note also were the Ghost/ Gravedigger, Claudius and Laertes.
It's a long play and I wasn't bored once!
I don't think it will go down in theatre history as one of the definitive Hamlets but I'm really glad I saw it. Thank you, Flavel.
If you would like to add your own views of the production, feel free to post a comment in the box below.
Tickets in London were changing hands for up to £1,000! Nothing is quite like the real thing--but the the live screening at the Flavel last night --for £16.50 -- came close! We also enjoyed a lovely pre-show supper for just £11 including a glass of wine. So, a really good night out to see the show everyone's talking about, and to have a view.
Well, my view is a bit mixed: the staging was superb--from the glamour of the opening celebrations to the dirt, the "something rotten" of the last scenes. Some striking lighting and sound effects. Hamlet is timeless but I got a bit confused by the mixed-date costumes and props. What was Ophelia's camera all about and the red and green telephones?
But we all went to see Cumberbatch, didn't we?
Hamlet is a huge, lonely role. The soliloquies have been given many times by the best actors of the day. Cumberbatch seemed a little unsure of himself in the early scenes: there was nothing startlingly new or memorable in his deliveries. Then Ophelia, Sian Brooke, came on. She was superb throughout -- and her scenes with Cumberbatch were fresh and convincing. Thereafter, he grew in strength and confidence and created some outstanding moments of theatre: " O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I...."; the duel; the grave scene. Worthy of special note also were the Ghost/ Gravedigger, Claudius and Laertes.
It's a long play and I wasn't bored once!
I don't think it will go down in theatre history as one of the definitive Hamlets but I'm really glad I saw it. Thank you, Flavel.
If you would like to add your own views of the production, feel free to post a comment in the box below.
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