Play of the Week

The RNT's recent production of Hamlet will be streaming in cinemas across the country from tomorrow onwards. For anyone planning to watch it, here are some thoughts from Theo Katzenellenbogen, who played Claudius in the recent SPS production of Shakespeare's tragedy.  

First off, Theo was impressed by the set, and by the opening, which offers a strong contrast to the mood of national mourning evoked by Miss Mazur:  'the set is a noble, grand effort to resurrect Elsinore. There is a mural exploring the dark past of Denmark, a dark painting of a dark forest, nicely juxtaposed, contrasted by mythic knights no doubt detailing Denmark’s imperial conquests. The first scene is bawdy and quite fun, actually—a rowdy affair to open.' 

Theo was also intrigued by the production's meta-theatrical elements: 'Hamlet’s first soliloquy ended with a fist bump to the sign-language person, the first of many dabbles into the meta. Some people argue that Hamlet is about a person who realizes he is in a play as he perceives the triviality of social order. This production did this nicely, involving the audience as audience of the play within a play, letting us in on his secret.'

Hiran Abeysekera as Hamlet

As for the portrayal of the central character himself, Theo was more ambivalent: 'Hamlet is the paradigm of the modern psyche, or at least Freud and Marx thought so. The nicely dangling hoop and naughty boots that Hamlet wore were certainly modern and positioned the Dane as an erudite, disillusioned, and subversive youth; wearing an earring and boots at a royal affair must be the zenith of rebellion. But at times, Hamlet was a bit too modern; the use of finger guns is the go-to dance move of vivacious party animals and the signature of hooded youths in intimidating TikTok videos. Never in my 17 years have I seen fingers pressed to the head for the infamous 'To be, or not to be.' Certainly a choice. Hamlet was very energetic at most times, which worked to his detriment; he seemed pretty comfortable in his supposedly 'sullied flesh.' At no point did I feel suicide was on the cards; he was going nowhere.

However, Theo applauded the interesting directorial choices that brought out ambiguities in Hamlet's mental state, such as 'a spotlight firmly honing in on a chair whilst Hamlet was pleading with his mother to notice his dead father, now a spotlight. This invited questions about Hamlet’s madness: truly an 'antic disposition', or rather the coinage of his brain? Did it position Hamlet as an unreliable narrator, not the perceptive, worldly, disillusioned Dane he sees himself as? This was a good question the production asked.'

In the RNT production, Hamlet sometimes wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase 'Tobacco and Boys', quoting a comment attributed to playwright Christopher Marlowe - 'all they who love not tobacco and boys [are] fools'. Marlowe's quip is found in the Baines Note, a police informant's report on the playwright's views and behaviour. While it might truly represent Marlowe's views, and is definitely not inconsistent with his writing, some argue that it's part of a plot by the Elizabethan secret services - for whom Marlowe probably once worked - to support his subsequent assassination (and you can read more about this theory explaining Marlowe's subsequent murder in a pub brawl here).  

'Tobacco and Boys' t-shirt just visible under Hamlet's dinner jacket

Theo wasn't entirely convinced by the spin the production puts on Hamlet's sexuality: 'The longing looks and occasional deep embrace between Hamlet and Rosencrantz perhaps overshadowed the Dane’s relationship with Ophelia. This worked to suggest that the usual romance between Ophelia and Hamlet truly fizzled out, rather than Hamlet feigning strength when he proclaims he never loved her. This was a choice, perhaps to pander to a tradition—a welcome tradition—of homosexuality in theatre.'  

Theo was impressed by Ophelia: 'she was good - energetic and, at the right times, frustrated at her invisibility amidst Denmark’s political machismo. One line stood out to me: Claudius directly addresses Ophelia, 'How have you received his love? The original line is 'How hath she received his love?', directed at Polonius and paradigmatic of her lack of autonomy and voice. This was prevalent throughout the production; her opinion was welcome and she received much sympathy from the other cast members. Her tragic demise and overwhelming grief at the loss of her father were touching. With Frankensteinian makeup and angel wings, we got the point that it was sad, tragic, and painful.'

Geoffrey Streatfield as Polonius and Francesca Mills as Ophelia

Theo had more mixed feelings about the production's presentation of Polonius: while the performance was good, 'for someone who is, to put it crudely, an idiot, a fool, his use of a banjo made him overly self-aware, I think, rendering him just another painful dad and perhaps trivializing the character— detracting from his false view that he is a shrewd political commentator and naive advisor to the king.'

And finally, Claudius - the character Theo himself played: 'as opposed to playing him as a cold-blooded killer, this Claudius dabbled with emotional depth. I say 'dabbled' because he was predominantly frowning and withdrawn—even in the famous soliloquy 'O, my offence is rank' he didn’t stray from the moody mould.' 

But did he take his shoes off (as Theo did in the SPS production), baring his soul, and his soles, simultaneously? You'll have to watch the play if you want to find: more details of the screenings here, as well as a trailer for the production. Why not go along and see if you agree with Theo's verdict?