Hamlet - Theatre Royal Windsor (Ian McKellen)

[couldileaveyou]

A new production of Hamlet starring Ian McKellen in an “age-blind” production will begin rehearsing next week, marking what is thought to be the first major play to start preparing for a post-lockdown performance. No dates have been set for performances, but rehearsals will begin in accordance with government guidelines.

Directed by Sean Mathias, produced by Bill Kenwright, set design by Lee Newby, costume design by Loren Elstein, lighting by Jamie Platt and sound design by Adam Cork. The rest of the cast includes Ben Allen, Emmanuella Cole, Alis Wyn Davies, Oli Higginson, Nick Howard-Brown, Jonathan Hyde, Asif Khan, Missy Malek, and Jenny Seagrove.

Hamlet will be followed by Martin Sherman’s adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, with McKellen as Firs the elderly manservant.

[Jon]

I wouldn't be surprised if this gets a West End run next year along with The Cherry Orchard.

[MrBraithwaite]

Jun 25, 2020 23:25:48 GMT couldileaveyou said:

A new production of Hamlet starring Ian McKellen in an “age-blind” production will begin rehearsing next week, marking what is thought to be the first major play to start preparing for a post-lockdown performance. No dates have been set for performances, but rehearsals will begin in accordance with government guidelines.

This sounds like the real-life version of "Staged".

[mrbarnaby]

I could not imagine anything worse than seeing him play Hamlet!
Also- this isn’t gonna happen for a loooooooong time. They can start rehearsing now all they want, but this won’t see an audience until next year.

[crabtree]

And Jenny Seagrove as Gertrude, or please in light of the casting, not Ophelia.

[Jan]

This seems odd - it surely won’t be able to open with a big enough audience to cover costs until next year, and maybe we’ll into next year. So why rehearse now ?

I quite like Jonathan Hyde. Sean Mathias not so much. None of the several McKellen/Mathias productions I’ve seen have come close to matching his work with better directors who were able to challenge him a bit more.

[couldileaveyou]

[lynette]

Certainly stretching the ‘suspend your disbelief’ idea. Not sure I see the point really. Judi Dench as Titania makes sense in one way, queen of the fairies for centuries kind of thing, but this looks awfully like a vanity project. Hamlet is about the disillusion of youth, no? Also the acceptance of death too I suppose. Well, good luck to him. As for rehearsals now, I expect they released this to arouse some enthusiasm and keep the idea of putting anything on alive and he is a BIG name.

[Marwood]

They were doing so well with that cast until Jenny Seagrove got a mention 🤨 I’ve seen the Sheen and Hiddleston Hamlets in recent years so I think I’ll pass on this one.

[theatrelover123]

I simply don’t understand how Jenny Seagrove got cast in a Bill Kenwright production. Baffling

[oxfordsimon]

I am struggling with this. I know Sirian can act. I know he can perform. But I don't see the point of being age blind to this extent.

How is his Hamlet supposed to fight convincingly with Laertes? You need the thrill of a fight with real jeopardy - not worrying if the Hamlet is going to have the stamina to get through it. Yes, I know you can tailor the staging to his capabilities - but I just can't see how it will read from the stage.

I think there is a strong case for capturing this sort of performance in audio form. Hearing a mature voice tackle the role would be interesting - and then the listener can fill in the images for themselves.

I had the same issues with the Redgrave/Earl Jones Much Ado - the idea of that Benedick seeking to 'people' with that Beatrice just takes me out of the play. It does work with an older central couple (as SRB and ZW proved) but there are limits

[Deleted]

I quite like the idea of this. Obviously a vanity project but it reads like an attempt to win audiences back which I’m all for. Plus it could be worse - Sir Ian could have decided it was time to dust off his Romeo!

[Sotongal]

The last time we went to the Theatre Royal Windsor, the skinny chap in the seat next to ours went out in the interval and on his return sat down to be accompanied by a loud cracking sound as his seat fell to pieces beneath him and he fell through it onto the floor.

Hope Bill Kenwright has found a few quid for maintenance since then!

[kathryn]

Now I love me some Sir Ian, and he did a wonderful reading of Juliet in his one man show - but that’s what it was, a reading.

I am just not enthused by an 80 year old Hamlet in an ‘age-blind’ production.

Now, a non-age-blind production that had a good conceit for it - like the Sheen asylum setting, or the Donmar prison trilogy - that might be intriguing.

[Jan]

Jun 26, 2020 19:56:20 GMT @kevinuk said:

I quite like the idea of this. Obviously a vanity project but it reads like an attempt to win audiences back which I’m all for. Plus it could be worse - Sir Ian could have decided it was time to dust off his Romeo!

He famously played Romeo when he was 37 and he, along with everyone else, knew he was too old for the part. 

[Jan]

Jun 26, 2020 18:06:58 GMT theatrelover123 said:

I simply don’t understand how Jenny Seagrove got cast in a Bill Kenwright production. Baffling

Or why Sean Mathias is the director. 

We had an oldie Romeo & Juliet a while ago didn't we, Bristol Old Vic, set in a care home, Sian Phillips & Michael Byrne. I think we need to suspend judgement until we see exactly what the basis of the production is - as noted a high-concept production like the Michael Sheen one could work - though with Mathias involved I'm not too hopeful. 

[crabtree]

Apparently Sarah Bernhart managed Hamlet very well battling age, sex and disability (did she not have a wooden leg by that time?). I'll give this a go if Mathias comes up with an intelligently theatrical convention to make this work. Theatre was never, and never should be literal. We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

[Jan]

Is it implied that The Cherry Orchard will have the same cast ? Because that would look woefully under-cast, and only about ten minutes of Sir Ian.

Michael Bryant was good as Firs in the NT one with Vanessa & Corin Redgrave as the siblings.

[Jon]

Jun 27, 2020 8:47:00 GMT kathryn said:

Now I love me some Sir Ian, and he did a wonderful reading of Juliet in his one man show - but that’s what it was, a reading.

I am just not enthused by an 80 year old Hamlet in an ‘age-blind’ production.

Now, a non-age-blind production that had a good conceit for it - like the Sheen asylum setting, or the Donmar prison trilogy - that might be intriguing.

I saw the age blind Much Ado About Nothing that was at the Old Vic and it kind of worked but even McKellen might be pushing it with Hamlet, if it was with someone a bit younger say in their 50s, it would work a bit better. 

I wonder if an age blind King Lear would ever work? I don't think it would work with an actor in their 30s but I think it could potentially work with someone in their 40s or 50s. 

[Jan]

Jun 27, 2020 14:31:30 GMT Jon said:

Jun 27, 2020 8:47:00 GMT kathryn said:

Now I love me some Sir Ian, and he did a wonderful reading of Juliet in his one man show - but that’s what it was, a reading.

I am just not enthused by an 80 year old Hamlet in an ‘age-blind’ production.

Now, a non-age-blind production that had a good conceit for it - like the Sheen asylum setting, or the Donmar prison trilogy - that might be intriguing.

I saw the age blind Much Ado About Nothing that was at the Old Vic and it kind of worked but even McKellen might be pushing it with Hamlet, if it was with someone a bit younger say in their 50s, it would work a bit better. 

I wonder if an age blind King Lear would ever work? I don't think it would work with an actor in their 30s but I think it could potentially work with someone in their 40s or 50s. 

Simon Russel-Beale was very good as Lear and he was 53 or similar, depends on the concept of the production. He played Lear first before he played Richard II which is highly unusual, maybe unique. John Gielgud first played Lear at the Old Vic when he was 36, only 10 years after his first Hamlet I think.

[oxfordsimon]

With Lear, it all depends on how you are interpreting the 'madness' side of things.

You can't have a 36 year old playing age-related senility as the cause of the madness

But a 36 year old can play the meaning of 'mad' that was widely understood in the early 1600s - madness being generated through anger

You do, of course, have to cast the family to suit the age of the Lear - but a younger interpretation can work

[kathryn]

A middle-aged Lear can work, because all the characters telling him how old and frail he is can be read as manipulation - that they have been campaigning for years to usurp him by convincing him he is too old to rule. Then the Fool telling him he is an idiot for giving up his kingdom has extra bite.

[Jon]

Jun 27, 2020 15:44:12 GMT kathryn said:

A middle-aged Lear can work, because all the characters telling him how old and frail he is can be read as manipulation - that they have been campaigning for years to usurp him by convincing him he is too old to rule. Then the Fool telling him he is an idiot for giving up his kingdom has extra bite.

Sort of like Doctor Who's 'Don't you think she looks Tired?' in a sense. 

[oxfordsimon]

I wonder if Sir Ian's understudy for this will write a book about it...

[mrbarnaby]

Jun 27, 2020 9:08:03 GMT Jan said:

Jun 26, 2020 18:06:58 GMT theatrelover123 said:

I simply don’t understand how Jenny Seagrove got cast in a Bill Kenwright production. Baffling

Or why Sean Mathias is the director. 

We had an oldie Romeo & Juliet a while ago didn't we, Bristol Old Vic, set in a care home, Sian Phillips & Michael Byrne. I think we need to suspend judgement until we see exactly what the basis of the production is - as noted a high-concept production like the Michael Sheen one could work - though with Mathias involved I'm not too hopeful. 

It’s because he’s Ian McK’s ex. That’s it.