Hamlet - Theatre Royal Windsor (Ian McKellen)

[cavocado]

Jul 23, 2021 12:16:08 GMT mjh said:

Looks like it got generally positive reviews:


www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/hamlet-review-ian-mckellen-windsor-b946980.html

Well, inews described it as a 'haphazard mess'...

[Peroni]

I went to see this on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed it a lot. It is just so wonderful to hear Ian McKellen for hours, it's well worth the trip just for that!
It's true that there isn't one single and clear concept that was presented to the audience, so it might feel disjointed for some people, like the critic from What's On Stage, who said the director "doesn't seem to have a view of the play; he throws in gimmicks such as an exercise bike for Hamlet and some loud pop music(...)". True, not everything works fantastically, but I wasn't bothered: I think changing the language to be more accessible (thy/thou was changed to your/you) and the cuts made sense, and the cast is fantastic. It's a production that doesn't have the pretension of being neither radical and modern nor conservative and as faithful to the original as possible, whatever that means.
I sat on Front Stalls, and the view from half the seats on stage seemed terrible as you'd lose so much of the action or see it from behind/side - it's not a proper in the round production. Also, they have a small programme (kinda boring) and a large one, which looks great.

[NeilVHughes]

Was also there yesterday afternoon and would second the onstage seating, too much happens overhead and if tempted if possible go for the seats closer to the auditorium.

McKellen was as expected and let the language carry the load, enjoyed Polonius, the right amount of pomposity and comic, also Ophelia’s decent to madness was well executed through song which was definitely different and worked for me.

Lucked into a post show Q&A which was a bonus.

[Dave B]

On a slight tangent, we are heading to Windsor to see this next weekend. Neither of us have been to Windsor before so if anyone had a suggestion of a nice pub or place for dinner beforehand?

Thank you in advance!

[Dr Tom]

I can’t make any specific recommendations, but the theatre is in area right by the river and surrounded by eating places, including some very nice looking riverside pubs. Lots more options if you cross the bridge to Eton too.

[crabtree]

A great day in windsor yesterday, down from manchester and back after the show. Easy to park, managed a boat trip and a great meal, and then the glorious show. Yes, maybe there's no clear overall picture, but the play stills works it's magic even after twenty odd productions i've seen. McKellen flirts with those familiar phrases and comes up fresh everytime, frances barber was pompously hysterical, Jenny Seagrove looks as if she has stepped in from Frozen, having played Elsa, though the long blonde plait had a reason. Her accent was extraordinary, though i liked that she suddenly turned to drink - making sense of her part in the fencing scene. The arras scene was interesting though the rack of dresses hardly looked like ones Gertrude would have worn. Not worried about the age/gender/race/ability ballyhoo for one second - this is after all, a play that begins with a talking ghost. and actors conveniently act out a play within a play echoing the main story. Sad not to see Francesca Annis in the curtain call, but then the ghost has so little to do - but if we see the ghost as flesh and blood should it not be there in the closet scene, or is Hamlet teasing gertrude. Then that would mean the actor would have to stick around for act Two. Lots of random ideas, some worked well, and some didn't, but hurray for sir Ian.

[Rory]

I wonder if this will transfer?

I wouldn't be surprised to see it go to the Gielgud between the Hilary Mantel and To Kill a Mockingbird. Nothing announced for that gap yet and Bill Kenwright doesn't usually announce hugely in advance.

[oxfordsimon]

They have to do Cherry Orchard before anything else

[danielwhit]

I can't see this transferring. Partially as it isn't actually very good. It's a confused mess of a show with random set pieces that make no sense, some uncomfortable casting and a sense that everyone has been left to their own devices to work out how they should play their parts.

Also as even with the cast they've got they're not selling out the Theatre Royal at all.

Mind you, according to publicity material its breaking all records at thee box office - so who knows what what means when it isn't selling out.

[Jon]

Sept 2, 2021 20:18:25 GMT danielwhit said:

I can't see this transferring. Partially as it isn't actually very good. It's a confused mess of a show with random set pieces that make no sense, some uncomfortable casting and a sense that everyone has been left to their own devices to work out how they should play their parts.

Also as even with the cast they've got they're not selling out the Theatre Royal at all.

Mind you, according to publicity material its breaking all records at thee box office - so who knows what what means when it isn't selling out.

They haven't said what the previous box office record was and when it was so breaking all box office records is a bit meaningless.

[crabtree]

I'd agree about the lack of focus, but i did come away with many of the lines heard as if for the first time, with new meanings, but anything fresh about Hamlet, I'm not sure. Best summed up for the constant changing of McK's many inconsequential costumes. Full of sound and fury, signifying.....? Yes some of the characters seemed sadly wan and insubstantial - thank goodness for Ian McK and Francis Barber. seemed full on tuesday.

[samuelwhiskers]

I just finished reading David Weston’s memoir of the tumultuous Lear tour (which starred McKellan and Barber). Wonder if they shared fond - or perhaps not so fond - memories!

[stevemar]

I thought this was a decent production but nothing special other than Sir Ian who brought as much new light to the part, but it was very much a “performance”. He and Frances Barber were very good. Absolutely no idea why Gertrude was played with an alienating accent (maybe Danish, but just out of the place). The staging worked well for the main theatre (fortunately I was in the stalls), but terrible for anyone on stage with the performances directed away from them or even above (with the scaffolding/bridge).

[crabtree]

Yep, I didn't understand Gertrude at all - she looked like Elsa from Frozen as a maure lady, but then anyone care to explain the the three eventual hair losses - some thought must have been behind that, something about seeing the truth, being honest? Though i did like the thinking tha Gertrude turned to drink, albeit rather suddenly. and Hamlet and Horatio clearly had a history together, but R&G were a bit wishy washy.And Osric certainly made the most of her moment.

[lynette]

The turning to drink is now pretty standard, explains why she objects to being told not to drink by Claudius at the end.

[peggs]

Sept 3, 2021 18:36:58 GMT lynette said:

The turning to drink is now pretty standard, explains why she objects to being told not to drink by Claudius at the end.

I have certainly seen that done though I think i've seen several Gertrude's give the impression that they know it's poisoned and drink it to prove it.

[crabtree]

whenever I watch Hamlet, as I probably have about thirty times, I am always taken up with the characters' personal catastrophes that I always forget to listen to the political situation and the advancing armies. Anyone care to elaborate on what is going on outside the walls of Elsinore, and just who and why the armies are advancing. Thanks. it's the same with antony and cleopatra - too many chaps chatting, bring on cleo.

[Jan]

Sept 4, 2021 9:36:13 GMT crabtree said:

whenever I watch Hamlet, as I probably have about thirty times, I am always taken up with the characters' personal catastrophes that I always forget to listen to the political situation and the advancing armies. Anyone care to elaborate on what is going on outside the walls of Elsinore, and just who and why the armies are advancing. Thanks. it's the same with antony and cleopatra - too many chaps chatting, bring on cleo.

There was a director once, I forget who, who wanted to stage Hamlet with all the solioquies cut out so it became very much a fast-moving "public" political play. Usually the opposite happens. 

[couldileaveyou]

Sept 4, 2021 9:36:13 GMT crabtree said:

whenever I watch Hamlet, as I probably have about thirty times, I am always taken up with the characters' personal catastrophes that I always forget to listen to the political situation and the advancing armies. Anyone care to elaborate on what is going on outside the walls of Elsinore, and just who and why the armies are advancing. Thanks. it's the same with antony and cleopatra - too many chaps chatting, bring on cleo.

Hamlet Sr had killed Fortinbras Sr in combat and claimed some Norwegian lands for Denmark. Now Fortinbras Jr wants them back. But at the beginning the Danes think that Fortinbras is gathering troops only to invade Poland and realize later on that Denmark is his true aim. I guess the point is that Fortinbras, like Laertes, is another "double" for Hamlet, someone with whom he can compare his effort to avenge his father and find it lacking.

But yeah pretty much since the Romanticism most productions tend to cut or reduce the political aspects of the play in order to highlight the psychological ones.

[crabtree]

Thank you for the above _ i'd not seen the paternal echoes there, but heck the plays works so well as a claustrophobic family drama writ large.

[Jan]

The Branagh film of Hamlet is the full text I think. There are “political” scenes in it I never remember seeing on stage.

[oxfordsimon]

I saw a full text production nearly 30 years ago. Stephen Dillane was Hamlet, Gwen Taylor was Gertrude and Donald Sinden was Polonius.

I seem to recall the interval came after 2.5 hours. We then returned for a further 2 hours.

Other than Dillane getting naked at one point as a sign of his descent into madness, very little of the production has stuck in my memory.

[lynette]

I hate it when they leave out Fortinbras. If ever our Will was being political it is in Hamlet. Good rulers see to the safety of their subjects and do not put their own lust or whatever before that. Sucking up, maybe but def political. So is Fortinbras a better son/Prince than Hamlet? Discuss. Or not.

[danielwhit]

Sept 3, 2021 18:36:58 GMT lynette said:

The turning to drink is now pretty standard, explains why she objects to being told not to drink by Claudius at the end.

But I must say I've never seen a Claudius who could give less of a toss than this one as to whether his wife killed herself or not...