Unattended Moments

I’ve been thinking about experimenting with a blog at this site for some time, and have finally accepted that thinking about it is never going to tell me whether it will work, and the only way to find out is to try it and see. So… I’ve started a revamp of the site with a new layout and an installation of Word Press. Thanks to the tutorial at Jonathanwold.com I was able to integrate Wordpress with my own layout design. (I hope. It looks ok to me, but I never know what other browser and operating system combinations are going to do to it.) Much of the content still needs to be updated / reorganised, though I have already redone the fanlisting pages.

As for the blogging… yes, on Friday I saw Hamlet in Stratford, with David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius (and the Ghost). I’ve been looking forward to this for months - I persuaded my parents to get tickets as my birthday present, and we were so lucky to get them as the entire run is now sold out. As it was we could only get tickets in the gallery described as ‘restricted view’ - though actually we could see just fine. The performance completely lived up to my hopes: the entire cast was good and DT and PS were both excellent. It wasn’t the complete text of Hamlet, but at 3 1/2 hours there were fewer cuts than in some other productions I have seen. Not that I noticed the length of the performance - it was gripping from beginning to end.

It was by far the funniest Hamlet I have seen, due in no small part to the evident delight which David Tennant’s Hamlet took in poking fun at the pomp and circumstance of the court, and in finding and parodying the ridiculous in those around him. Initially appearing ill-at-ease in the ceremonies of the court, it seemed that his adopted madness gave him the freedom to express his real feelings. At the same time, I have never seen a Hamlet who was so overcome by grief at the memory of his father’s death, and while I believed his madness to be part feigned, at times it seemed that he was truly driven to distraction by grief and anger. DT played the full range of Hamlet’s emotions - from the outbursts of grief and the periods of depression when life seemed drained of meaning to a fierce joy at seeing his friend Horatio, and a genuine delight in the players.

Patrick Stewart presented a very human Claudius. I’m used to thinking of Claudius simply as the villain, but this time I saw him also as a tragic figure in his own right. I believed in a genuine affection between Claudius and Gertrude. Claudius has determination, even courage - he keeps his head under pressure and ultimately does not flinch before his own death; but he is brought down by ambition and greed, his qualities are used for selfish ends. In this performance, small touches - like forgetting the name of Hamlet’s university - suggested the limits of his interest in others, particularly in relation to Hamlet.

Mariah Gale deserves a mention as Ophelia - never an easy part to present. I saw a modern young woman without the experience to deal with the situation in which she found herself, which made sense for me of her descent into madness - and her mad scenes were convincingly played. Not yet entirely schooled to the formality of the court, and with a quick perception of her brother’s double standards (while he warns her against Hamlet, she pulls incriminating evidence from his luggage), I could see how she and Hamlet could be drawn to one another. I had the feeling that they could have made a good couple, if only she had had perhaps a little more maturity, and the courage of her convictions in the face of pressure from her brother and father.

It was a modern Hamlet, and a very accessible production with the modern setting and modern dress highlighting the continuing relevance of its themes. Minimal changes to language to fit the production or to clarify the meaning did not interfere with the rhythm of Shakespeare’s language. If you do get any chance to see this production, take it. For my part, I would eagerly sit through it all again.