The show opened promptly at 2 p.m. with a new twist. Soldiers walked onto stage in view of an onstage observer, leaned down near the trap door in the floor and made as if to carry a body. They walked upstage, the lights went out and then the play began in proper. It was a great way to grab the audience's attention quickly. The soldiers were attired in what appeared to be World War I era military outfits; a sign of a modern presentment?
As the action began, the costuming of other cast members fit into a WWI time frame. The design was lavish, striking and colorful. Claudius was in a white military dress uniform. Gertrude's silk dress was stunning. Polonius, in a novel twist, wore a religious cassock. Laertes was in a leather coat. Hamlet, fittingly, was entirely in black.
The modern era continued to present itself in Ophelia's chamber. As Laertes entered to bid Ophelia good bye, she was interrupted while working away at a sewing machine. In the room were a music stand and violin, which she played later when her father visited. She accompanied him on a song about St. Valentine's Day, a clear foreshadowing of her madness scene to come.
The set consisted of numerous black rectangular prisms, reminiscent of the monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. They could be moved to suit numerous purposes--walls, seats, parapets on which Hamlet climbed. Two of the larger ones had wall lighting on the back, and one had a large lighted cross. This reminded me of the University of Rochester production I saw years ago. (See 10/14/13 post.)
The play within a play scene featured a large troupe, approximately eleven in number. The dumb show remained. In a new twist, the players pulled Claudius from the audience and had him imitate pouring poison in Gonzago's ear. The play continued as typical. I noted a stress on Hamlet's line about "lacking advancement," perhaps a knowing allusion to J. Dover Wilson's treatment of the scene. (See 12/28/14 post.) The interval arrived as Hamlet grabbed a rifle with bayonet from a palace guard and headed to Gertrude's chamber.
The bedroom scene opened the second act. Polonius was not stabbed through the arras; instead he was shot with the rifle Hamlet had taken. It was a different take, one I had seen in the RSC film version (see 2/23/14 post), but it worked within the context of the production. The remainder of the scene was very dark comedy indeed. Ophelia appeared clad in her father's robe, and her madness was well-played psychosis. The "flowers" she presented were her father's personal effects, carried to the room in the violin case. The daisies, which withered and died, were represented by the broken neck of the violin.
In a notable shift of dialogue, the discussion between Laertes and Claudius of the murder plot did not occur in its textual place. Instead, it was shifted until the funeral scene in the graveyard. The two conspired at Ophelia's grave after the rest of the cast had exited. It was adept editing that did not seem particularly out of place.
Prior to the duel, Claudius took a foil from Osric. He made a few mock thrusts with it and then presented it to Laertes. Thus began the plot. The fight itself, a fencing match, was respectable although not terribly violent. Gertrude was evidently drunk when she called her son "fat and scant of breath" and then drank from the poisoned cup. The duel ended with no stage blood spilt and bodies strewn about. Fortinbras entered, and bid his soldiers to shoot. In a visual rhyme from the play's opening, the soldiers picked up Hamlet from the floor, the trap opened with a bright shaft of light directed upward and the stage went black. The opening of the play had been the closing, played in reverse.
The acting in this production was balanced and excellent all around. Each member of the cast helped to create a wonderful production. Jonathan Goad as Hamlet was believable--at times sad, at times manic but never so over the top as to detract from the role. Seana McKenna and Geraint Wyn Davies as Gertrude and Claudius were regal and human. (In an aside, both starred in The Physicists, which I saw later that night. Two different starring roles performed excellently in the same day--my opinion of repertory actors could not be high enough.) In fact, I never really found Claudius to be evil enough to warrant boos or hisses. Tom Rooney as Polonius was neither the underhanded spy nor the comic fop, but rather seemed just a normal person. Adrienne Gould as Ophelia brought both beauty and class to the role.
Bravo to Antoni Cimolino's direction! The play was a tight 2:45 in length. While there were editions to the script, nothing stood out as prominently missing. Fortinbras was left in the play, which adds the political dimension to the work. All of Hamlet's soliloquies were there, including "How all occasions," which frequently is dropped. The dumb show was there. The lines that were removed were done very adroitly, never detracting from the overall force of the work.
And so I can add another Hamlet to my collection. This was a very worthy production, certainly in the upper echelons of those that I have seen. It takes its place alongside another excellent work, the Stratford festival production of 2008 (see 11/17/13 post). They are two different takes on a classic (with, as I discovered in looking back, several overlapping cast members) but two excellent takes. After a few recent subpar Hamlet productions that I have seen, Stratford has restored my faith in the stage!
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