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Hamlet

  • opened: 4/27/2004
  • closed: 7/31/2004
  • Old Vic
  • Box Office: 0870 060 6635
  • Details: To July 31
  • Summary: Trevor Nunn's long-cherished dream of presenting a truly youthful Hamlet has been triumphantly realised in this must-see Old Vic revival, starring the revelatory Ben Whishaw. The full spectrum of reviews - from outright raves through subdued approval to sniffy dismissal - have greeted Trevor Nunn's modern-dayish revival of Hamlet, starring 23-year-old Ben Whishaw as the troubled youthful prince. In the Daily Telegraph, Charles Spencer cheered: 'Nunn's daring modern dress production works superbly. Hamlet's youth is mentioned repeatedly in the play, and he has interrupted his studies at university to attend his father's funeral and his mother's "o'erhasty" remarriage to his uncle. Whishaw, with his light, tremulous voice, painfully thin body, and the kind of cheekbones that will have adolescent girls swooning in the stalls, presents the most raw and vulnerable Hamlet I have ever seen.' And in the Evening Standard, Nicholas de Jongh was spellbound: 'No Prince of Denmark has made a more powerful or emotional impression on me. The key to this overwhelming performance, in a revelatory contemporary-dress production by Trevor Nunn, with mobile phones, a machinegun for Laertes and a schoolgirl Ophelia solo-dancing to pop music in her bedroom, lies in the truth of its raw passions. This Hamlet struggles with his fears and loathings in melancholic detachment from his mother, Ophelia and Horatio. He is helpless in frail, vulnerable youthfulness.' Michael Billington in the Guardian was impressed, but only up to a point: 'There are several moments, as when Hamlet tells Gertrude that at her age "the heyday in the blood is tame", when Whishaw profitably reminds you of Hamlet's callowness. But what this Hamlet lacks is irony, reflectiveness and any sense that he poses a real physical danger to Claudius; you can see why he would get on the king's nerves, but the idea that this skinny student would actually avenge his father's murder is preposterous.' In the Times, Ian Johns agreed: 'The production seems as uncertain as the hero. Some of the cast work with the verse, others adopt a more naturalistic approach. We have modernity given intimate focus dwarfed by John Gunter's imposing, operatic-scale castle walls. In the end, this production is like Whishaw's performance, bursting with familial grief but lacking the essential nobility to make it truly tragic.' In the Independent, Rhoda Koenig, awarding a mere two stars, complained: 'Ben Whishaw's Hamlet shows intelligence and sensitivity... but his lines are frequently unintelligible, and his demeanour is that of sullen adolescent rather than proud prince.' In the Daily Mail, Patrick Marmion was scathing about the production's glossy modernity: 'Whishaw paces the stage like a caged animal, obviously inhabiting a different, darker world from the rest of his fashionably coutured family.. Elsewhere, Nunn tries too hard to be up-to-the-minute.. the overall concept proves too trashy to be truly tragic.' In the Daily Express, Robert Gore-Langton awarded five stars: 'Trevor Nunn's genius is to get you to look at the play's best-known passages with fresh eyes... Ben Whishaw's gangling, nutty heartbreak Hamlet should scoop awards galore.' In the Mail on Sunday, Brian Logan allowed that 'Nunn's 21st century refit makes it clear that the likes of Whishaw's Hamlet are all around us, but elsewhere the modern-dress makeover is counter-productive.' In the Sunday Independent, Kate Bassett suggested: 'Sometimes the immaturity of Nunn's actors results in a freshness and authenticity that is electrifying. Whishaw raises a laugh as the embodiment of stroppy adolescence.. the trouble is that this performance is hit-and-miss.. Nunn is normally better at naturalism. Even some of his experienced actors are showily demonstrative here.' In the Observer, Susannah Clapp was exacting: 'He's earned himself a memorable place in the history of Hamlets with his impressive early scenes, but he doesn't much develop in the course of the play: he always looks in need of protection; he's always - unusually among Hamlets - endearing. Whishaw is both beneficiary and victim of Trevor Nunn's idea - or wheeze - of a youth Hamlet . The poignancy of the prince's position is increased in this interpretation; its consequences are diminished.' In the Sunday Telegraph, John Gross argued: 'Even is we grant the emphasis on youth, Whishaw's portrayal leaves out far too much. Prince Hamlet is formidable as well as tormented; his weakness and his melancholy are mixed up with his strengths. By contrast, Whishaw's Hamlet is awash with self-pity.' Victoria Segal in the Sunday Times came down in favour: 'There will be those who will carp about the modern setting, the occasional verse-speaking idiosyncrasies, the textual alterations - but who cares, when this is a production that knows moving an audience doesn't mean driving them away? From a play that must struggle to escape its own madness, such freshness is enough to make anyone feel young at heart.' Visit theARCHIVE to hear a theatreVOICE discussion.
  • Author: Shakespeare
  • Director: Trevor Nunn
  • Composer: Steven Edis
  • Lyricist: n/aSet Designer: John Gunter
  • Lighting Designer: Paul Pyant
  • Costume Designer: Mark Bouman
  • Choreographer: Kate Flatt
  • Cast Details: Hamlet (Ben Whishaw); Claudius (Tom Mannion); Gertrude (Imogen Stubbs); Laertes (Rory Kinnear); Ophelia (Samantha Whittaker).