I’ve added my thoughts on the RSC ensemble to the @ShakespeareBT – Shakespeare Birthplace Trust blog, Blogging Shakespeare. They’ve started an interesting debate about the current RSC ensemble. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/bcXLeR
Romeo and Juliet (The Courtyard Theatre, w/c 17th May 2010)
When I was in Stratford not so long ago, I was lucky to see two versions of this production. One with the understudy, Dyfan Dwyfor, playing Romeo and then again with Sam Troughton playing Romeo. In the first version, I saw a cautious Romeo, who was a little self conscious of himself as he found himself caught up in the violent renaissance world. In the second version, I saw a very different Romeo that easily slotted into this world.
The two central characters are really well played. Juliet (Mariah Gale) is rebellious, and when we meet her she is a bit of a moody teenager, swinging her glow stick with vigour as if this action is an act of defiance against her elders. In the first half of the play, I felt that Romeo plays at being in love. Troughton brings out this aspect so well, particularly in the balcony scene where is crouches in the centre vomitorium saying his lines as if acting as if he was still outside this play. On the night that I went, Troughton moved from the vomitorium to sit on the vacant seat next to me to speak his lines, and for me that emphasised the feeling that he was also an observer of the play, as well as a character in it.
Jonjo O’Neill’s Mercutio is a showman and the acting is totally over the top, which makes it a fantastic performance and for me one of the delights of the production. The dyed blonde hair is a nice touch. The audience really loved this performance and gasped when they realised that Mercutio was hurt and was about to die. Mercutio sometimes straddles the contemporary space that Romeo has come from enters Romeo’s dream/death world riding Romeo’s bicycle onto the stage.
It feels like death really does walk into this play. The ghost of Tybalt walks up to Juliet’s tomb. Lady Capulet (Christine Entwisle) is distraught by Tybalt’s death, but can pull herself together for the wedding. At the end Juliet screams when she is stabs herself.
There are very strong performances from Noma Dumezweni as the nurse and Forbes Masson as the priest as the adults who should protect the young people but let them down badly. Richard Katz is excellent as Juliet’s violent father. His performance is a lovely contrast to his great comic portrayal of Touchstone in As You Like It.
I felt that the current RSC production is exciting, energetic, and gripping. I think that this is probably the best production coming out of the current RSC ensemble, and that was a surprise for me, because I normally find the play a little tedious and though companies work hard at bringing out the tragedy it doesn’t always work for me. I felt that this was the ensemble working well together and is a real success.
http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/romeo-and-juliet/
King Lear (RSC, The Courtyard Theatre, w/c 1st March 2010)
In the episode ‘George’s Last Ride’ from the seminal television drama Boys from the Blackstuff, Chrissy (Michael Angelis) pushes George (Peter Kerrigan) in his wheelchair through the derelict landscape of the industrial dock area of Liverpool. The predominance of greys in the scene create a sense of despair and pessimism. As Chrissy helps George stand for the last time, George declares, “I can’t believe that there is no hope. I can’t”. In watching David Farr’s King Lear, I was reminded of George, a man driven to the absolute edge of despair, and a society which has crumbled around him.
As the audience enter the dark auditorium at the Courtyard Theatre for the Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear, they hear the clanging and banging in the background of machinery at work. The set has an industrial feel as if it had been situated inside an old deserted factory. High up are broken windows with the sun streaking through the dirt engrained on the glass. There’s a bell and a pulley prominently placed. Edgar (Charles Aitkin) sits on the stage staring outwards in stunned horror.
Like his design for last season’s The Winter’s Tale, Jon Bauber’s set for this production is another set which disintegrates around us, but unlike the The Winter’s Tale set, it is fragmented and shattered to start with. Throughout the production, the lights fizz and crackle as if an insect has flown into them. The sound is sometimes like that moment when the strip lighting flickers as it struggles to power on. Edmund (Tunjim Kasim) seems able to control the lights, as did Feste in Greg Doran’s production of Twelfth Night, but this is not for humorous effect, it is rather sinister. In the storm scene, Lear stands centre stage water streams down over (and under) him and as the winds blow the set crashes around him.
David Farr’s production merges different periods in time. Lear and Kent are presented as medieval knights, and in contrast the Gloucester family are in Edwardian dress. I wasn’t clear why this was, but it made me think about possible reasons for this creative decision. Is it to suggest that King Lear deals with a sweep of British history? Are we being asked to comment on the relationship between the two periods depicted through costume? Possibly the set has been designed to make us think about the decline of the industrial revolution and that we are hurtling towards the first world war. I wondered if we were meant to think that the Gloucester family are the intellects and Lear is the warrior. I felt these shifts in time were very in keeping to the RSC current approach in setting productions in no particular time or place such as the current RSC’s As You Like It that moves through time ending up in the contemporary dress. I really like the experiments with time and setting, because it moves beyond those attempts to make comparisons between Shakespeare’s plays and specific historical moments without being clumsy about the idea of the plays being universal.
What I found interesting about this production was that there were set pieces that looked like images captured in paintings, such as the way the court organised themselves for Lear’s entrance at the beginning of the play. There was a series of repeated images as well. One of them is the image of the three sisters on stage. In the first scene, Goneril and Regan kneel and Cordelia is still stood on her soap box as if she has been placed on a pedestal and bathed in light. Towards the end of the play the three sisters find themselves on stage at the same time reminding me of the moment Cordelia responds to Lear with her ‘nothing’.
Hicks’ plays Lear with a sense of humour in parts. In the first scene he wrong foots the court who are all lined up expecting him to enter centre stage, and he enters from the vomitorium cackling with glee. At moments he mimics age, which has some irony as this is what he is to become so soon. It must be be exhausting, playing all Lear’s moods. Hicks is able to play the transition from warrior to fragile old man brilliantly. His Lear is petulant and boisterous. He abuses his power, and it is as if as King he thinks he can do anything he likes. As I was watching Greg Hicks as Lear, I couldn’t help making connections between his portrayal of Leontes in The Winter’s Tale and his King Lear. In this production Kelly Hunter’s Goneril stares with stunned shock at Lear as if she can’t believe how far he will go. It was the kind of reaction that Hermione has when watching Leontes rage in his jealousy. Both plays have worlds which are turned upside down and daughters are banished into wilderness. I like the ways Hicks uses the physical body to reflect his emotional strain. As Hicks transforms into a crumpled old man, I was reminded of the image int he second half of The Winter’s Tale, when the scene returns to Sicilia and Leontes is sat in the dark at the back of the stage.
There are some stunning performances in this production. Katy Stephens and Kelly Hunter as Regan and Goneril were both thoughtful and powerful portrayals of the two sisters. Darrell D’Silva’s Kent was spectacular. He is an energetic Kent fighting for his friend and was a lovely contrast to Gloucester. The performance which has stuck in my mind is Kathryn Hunter’s Fool is a curious piece of work. She plays the role as a vulnerable child, and she plays the role as androgynous. This boy/woman Fool just can’t stop himself from speaking, as if lacking any control over his actions. The Fool pulls Lear’s hand from the fire, but just can’t seem to bring himself to take Lear away as if the obvious isn’t possible for him. I thought Kathryn Hunter’s expressions were wonderful and beguiling. It is an enormously poignant moment when the Fool hesitates and does not follow Lear. I felt that was a significant moment in this production in that Lear was truly alone without any followers at all.
Yes, this production is a little eclectic, but I found a lot in it to think about.
Reviews and Previews
Hamlet (BBC2, 26th December 2009).
In the Doctor Who two parter, ‘The End of Time’, the time is clearly ‘out of joint’ for the Doctor. He has been having fun instead of being there to sort out the Master’s usurpation of the human race. In trying to set this right, the tenth Doctor hurtles towards his own death. Does this remind us of the fate that befalls the Prince of Denmark? With the scheduling of David Tennant and the RSC/Illuminations/BBC Hamlet over Christmas and New Year, making some connections between the two roles will be inevitable (see Mark Lawson in The Guardian).
Part 1: Space and place
As Hamlet ‘lugs the guts’ of Polonius ‘into a neighbour room’ through the corridors of Elsinore, I was reminded by Turner’s interior of Durham Cathedral which is exhibited in the Tate’s Turner and the Masters’ exhibition. Sun streaks through the windows in the gothic scenes. Greg Doran’s production is a modern dress production, but not specifically set in a particular place or time. Like Turner’s image it deceives us into thinking it is about a specific time, but it is actually timeless.
I wrote at length about the BFI screening of the RSC/Illuminations/BBC Hamlet, where I discussed the occasion and my first responses to the screening. Here I wanted to spend a little more time in thinking about some of the production decisions. The move from stage to the film location made me think about how a sense of place and space are so important in this interpretation of Hamlet. The mood of the production is set from the start and we realise that this is not a pleasant place when we become aware of the CCTV cameras zooming in and out. The play opens in the bowels of Elsinore and this is a semi private moment. The watch are nervous and jumpy. The viewer is directed by the camera and follows Francisco along the corridor. As in the stage production, we hear clanging and clashing of the munitions factory at work in the background. The reminder that the country is at war and the sound of weapons being manufactured continues throughout the scene, could be one possible reason for the nervousness of the apprehension of the men on the watch. At 1.1.9 Barnardo emphasises the word ‘had’ as if they expect something to have happened, but it is quiet and ironically at that point ‘not a mouse [is] stirring (1.1.10)’. We view the scene through a mix of the RED camera and the CCTV cameras which creates a feeling of foreboding and preparing the viewer for the entrance of the ghost. The CCTV cameras don’t pick up the ghost, but the audience is also made to wait for its appearance at Horatio’s line, ‘ but soft, behold, lo where it comes again (1.1.126)’.
In contrast, in the next scene we move from the cold dark corridor to a very public scene and to the extravagant main throne room (1.2). This room seems to be about the same size as the Courtyard stage, and much of the blocking in the scene seems to have been transferred from the stage production. The chandeliers, which were in the stage production, and the mirrors frame Gertrude and Claudius who are supposedly the focus of the first part of the scene. In the stage production, it was much easier to watch Hamlet’s entrance as he gently brushes Ophelia’s hand as he walks by her and takes his glass of champagne. Here the main focus for the first part of the scene is on Gertrude and Claudius with shots of Hamlet looking sadly on. In this very public scene we see Patrick Stewart’s master politician Claudius at work, and Gertrude is clearly at Claudius’ side supporting him. She prompts him to remember that Hamlet studies at ‘Wittenberg (1.2.113)’, and she looks nervously as Claudius toys with Hamlet, and pretends to address him but turns to speak to Laertes (1.2.51). Hamlet stands to the side in his formal suit and slicked back hair. He will also be in the same place for the ‘Mousetrap’ later with his hair is spiky, he will be barefoot, and actively goading the king. Where the film differs from the stage production, as I noted in my BFI posting, is that the camera directs to particular points in the scene. The Polonius family have clearly worked together on the response that Laertes will give to Claudius and as Laertes pauses at ‘and bow’ (1.2.56), he is promoted by Polonius who stands beside him mouthing the words they have agreed to say.
In the third scene, we move again into a different place, and another private moment, as the Polonius family goodbye scene is in the hall at the bottom of the stairs. The Polonius family have their own in joke mouthing Polonius’ words as if they have heard them so many times before. Ophelia draws attention to her brother’s dual standards when he requests that she protects her chastity, by revealing two condoms packed in his case. I always felt that Mariah Gale set up the scenes of Ophelia’s madness very well in this scene on stage. I felt that could really believe that the woman who falls into madness was this feisty woman, who is so close to her brother and father in 1.3. There is clearly a difference in the way Polonius responds to his daughter than he does to his son. Oliver Ford Davies’ Polonius is curious to know what Laertes (Edward Bennett) has said to Ophelia and his tone is sharp as he asks, ‘what is’t, Ophelia, he hath said to you (1.3.88)?’ Oliver Ford Davies is a really funny Polonius. At times forgetting what he is about to say, and having to be prompted by those around him, but also truly loyal to Claudius.
The other space which is very significant in this production is Gertrude’s bedroom, and of course the bed is central to this scene (3.4). Gertrude is clearly frustrated and annoyed by Hamlet’s behaviours in previous scenes. Penny Downie plays the part at this moment as if she is at the end of her tether with her naughty child and takes the crown from Hamlet’s head. Hamlet’s language in this scene is full of sexual punning and innuendo. The scene is played with passion and anger across the bed in what is supposed to be the queen’s most private space, but again Hamlet is being spied on and when he realises he shoots Polonius through the glass. I felt that in a way this was much more dramatic on stage because I wondered how it was done at the Courtyard. I think the scene in the closet comes across well in the film, because the camera is able to give us that extra layer of intimacy. I think this scene shows Gertrude as an enormously powerful character in the play. This view of her is later supported when she attempts to disarm Laertes, as he enters the palace in a fury on hearing his father’s death (4.5). She is finally rejected by Claudius at Ophelia’s graveside. Claudius turns his back on her as he delivers the line ‘good Gertrude set some watch over your son’ (5.1.292) with such distaste because of the havoc Hamlet has caused.
The gravedigger scene and the burial of Ophelia is the only one of two external scenes in the production. The other is the egg-shell scene (4.4). The gravedigger scene is a scene has been cut and is slightly different from the stage production as the joke about who builds the stronger has been lost. One of the questions, that is sometimes asked is why doesn’t Horatio tell Hamlet that Ophelia is dead and so most likely the grave they witness being dug is for her. In this film, we see Horatio (Peter De Jersey)comforting and restraining Hamlet as he works this out for himself. Here we realise that Horatio knows he couldn’t tell Hamlet the truth, because he know how deeply hurt Hamlet will be.
Part 2: Metatheatre and Mirrors
In the stage production there were many references to the stage and in the film this has taken further with the references to film and filming. In the production, as the action then moves between the corridors and rooms of Elsinore, Hamlet realises that the CCTV cameras observe his every move. He tears down the camera placed in the throne room and ironically makes the statement, ‘now I am alone (2.2.551)’. I felt that this was nice touch, but this is a pivotal moment, because from now on Hamlet starts filming everyone else.
It is a further irony that Hamlet films the play within a play, turning the reference to theatre to a reference to film at the same time. The player king (John Woodvine) is well-practiced in performing the Priam’s slaughter speech (2.2.446). The actors can chant along with him as if they have heard and seen this so many times before. The players take their craft very seriously, and the player king and queen dress so extravagantly for the Mousetrap. Ryan Gage’s player queen gives such a look of distaste at Gertrude’s ‘the lady doth protest too much, methinks’ (3.2.240) remark and this is highlighted in the film version. Hamlet has clearly written some of the lines and we can see which ones they are as he mouths them in the ‘Mousetrap’ scene. I felt that there were lovely shots of the player clowns, played by Ricky Champ and Jim Hooper, as Hamlet tries to persuade the player king not to let the clowns say too much (3.2.37). In the dumb show the joke of the murdered king parodies the death old Hamlet in turning into a ghost with a white sheet over him, and leaving the scene making ghost-like noises (in the stage version he was hoisted into the flies which was very funny). Hamlet, watches Claudius watching the play, through his video camera and we see what Hamlet sees. Claudius is clearly disturbed, but he acknowledges Hamlet is playing a game by walking past him and shaking his head to signal that he is aware of what Hamlet is doing.
A key metaphor in both the stage and film productions is the mirror. In the stage production, Hamlet uses the actors’ mirror and reflects it across the faces of the audience in the theatre. In the film, he can only reflect the faces of the players in the mirror. There is some humour when Hamlet proclaims ‘well, god-o-mercy’ (2.2.172)’ when he notices the two-way mirror. In the stage production he is able walk round the mirror, but in the film he looks into it, and we see him from the other side. In shooting Polonius through the mirror, the mirror shatters. The fragmented mirror then becomes a metaphor for Hamlet’s state of mind, but also for the court breaking up and falling a part from the well rehearsed show in the second scene. By the time we reach the final scene, it feels like all the mirrors in Elsinore are fragmented and broken.
Patrick Stewart said in the question and answer session at the BFI screening that he made it a condition of playing Claudius that he would also play the ghost. This seems to make sense as the two characters are brothers. As Claudius though, Stewart is also acting two parts. He is the calculated polished performer in the public scenes, but we are also privy to his anguish in a private moment as he attempt to pray. I love the way he wretches at the moment he recognises that his offence is ‘rank (3.3.36)’. At the end of the play, Claudius realises the game is up, and just shrugs his shoulders as he drinks from the poisoned cup. Here Claudius is no longer acting, or is this his best performance of the play?
Though it makes sense to double up as the ghost and Claudius in both stage and film productions. However, taking a stage production and making it into a film means that there is the issue of all the other characters who double up. Kenneth Branagh Hamlet (1996) took the opportunity of the film to bring in large crowds and even extra characters such as Ken Dodd’s Yorick. Doran’s production stays fairly close to the stage production with using all the Courtyard/Novello cast. In the stage versions other actors doubled up as well, such as Ryan Gage playing both the player queen and Osrick and the film version did well retain some actors playing several parts.
Part 3: Hamlet
In using film references, there are echoes of Michael Almereyda’s 2000 Hamlet. However, Tennant’s Hamlet is not like Hawke’s Hamlet, who is filming the court scene (1.2) from the start, and plays a moody teenager throughout. There’s an enormous amount in the blogs and on the comment boards (see The Guardian’s What did you think) about the way that David Tennant played Hamlet. I felt that David Tennant made a good job of playing Hamlet both on stage and in the film. I enjoyed the comic, energetic, and the thoughtful prince. I felt that Tennant’s strength was that he was able to bring some clarity to speeches which are sometimes difficult to understand. A very good example of this is his conversation with Rosencrantz (Sam Alexander) and Guildenstern (Tom Davey) when he compares the playing of the musical instrument to the way the two characters are attempting to manipulate him saying ‘you would play upon me (3.3.372)’. I felt Tennant was able to work through the soliloquies and pick out the changes in tone, such as in the first ‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt’ (1.2.128). Here, Tennant says ‘solid’ instead of ‘sullied’ here, but there is a real show of grief in the way he delivers the soliloquy. I felt that performing the speech this way might be an enormous risk, because he falls to his knees and instead of speaking the lines clearly to the audience, he speaks them to the floor. In taking this approach there is a real danger that the words may be lost, particularly in the theatre. This is very early on in the play as well and he could lose his audience. However, he works through the shock and grief and at ‘frailty, thy name is woman (1.2.146)’, he stands up and we see his anger and frustration. From moving to a position where he does not acknowledge the audience he moves to one where he speaks directly to the camera when he talks about his ‘poor father’s body (1.2.148).
I was particularly interested in Greg Doran’s idea (see Learning Zone comment below) that characters constantly reach crossroads in the play and have to make decisions about which way to go. It’s really interesting to think of the moments when Hamlet does this. For example, the moment Hamlet chooses to put on an antic disposition on (1.5.173), when he realises that Ophelia’s father is not at home in the nunnery scene and is spying on him (3.1.115), and the example given by Greg Doran when he thinks he might kill Claudius at prayer – ‘now might I do it… (3.3.73f)’.
There are different sides to Tennant’s Hamlet. At times he could be very intense and physical. This was evident in Gertrude’s closet and as he directs the Mousetrap. Most Hamlet’s get their notebooks out to write down the ghost’s words, but this Hamlet cuts his hand at ‘set it down (1.5.108). I felt that Tennant’s Hamlet on the whole a very funny Hamlet. He is able to demonstrate how he will put on the antic disposition by changing his tone at ‘well, well, we know’ (1.5.176). Hamlet is obsessed and disgusted by female sexuality we see this in several place such as Gertrude’s closet, in the Nunnery scene, and we see this in public as Hamlet, watching the mousetrap with Ophelia, Hamlet still emphasises the first syllable of ‘country matters (3.2.125)’ as he does in the stage production. This is both crudely humorous but shocking that he could publically humiliate Ophelia in this way. He can be very cruel to Polonius and after Polonius is murdered, he behaves in the same way to Osrick. However, he is disappointed and shocked to find his two school friends ‘have been sent (2.2.274)’, and starts to mock them as well. One of the funniest moments is when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive before the play within the play with champagne and glasses and are dismissed by Hamlet 3.2.60).
Part 4: Summing up
The three hours do move very quickly and the film production we choose if we have an interval and when it will be. This means we lose the effect of placing the interval after ‘now might I do it… (3.3.73f)’. It does seem to end a little abruptly and this is probably because Fortinbras’ entrance has been cut.
I realise watching the BBC’s second and third The Learning Zone programmes, which were broadcast before the screening of Hamlet on Boxing Day, may have influenced the way I think about this production. I missed the first one and am hoping that I will be able to catch up with it at a later date. The two programmes were enormously helpful insights into the making of this production.
I do think that there were moments when it was possible to make connections between Hamlet and Doctor Who through the viewing of the Tennant’s two performances over the Christmas and New Year period. I don’t think that this is a bad thing at all. I am writing about this in other places ao won’t elaborate here.
For Tennant’s Hamlet and Doctor – ‘The rest is silence (5.2352) – that is until John Simm plays Hamlet in September at the Sheffield Crucible and Matt Smith takes over the role of the Doctor in the Spring.
References
All references to the Penguin edition of the text which is edited by T.J.B Spencer (of course the production doesn’t follow this text).
Reviews
The Guardian – what did you think ?
Other Information
Hamlet BBC Open Learn with reference to the production.
George Entwistle’s BBC Blog on the BFI screening
Illuminations – reviews blogs tweets etc about the production
Interview with David Tennant in The Observer
Mark Lawson on the TV version in The Guardian
Mark Lawson on Hamlet for The Guardian discussion about the Doctor Who Hamlet?
Mark Lawson again, but liking the comparison to Hamlet this time.
RSC, South Bank Show (ITV 1, 28th December 2009)
Though I enjoyed the South Bank programme about the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) because of my interest in the Company and its work, I did start to feel that it was more like a promotional DVD, than an in-depth study. It is sad to see a long running show axed and I hope other shows take its place, and that we see Melvin Bragg in other slots. I think I need more of the wonderful Culture Show with its weekly mix of short pieces and specials, such as the recent programme focusing on Michael Jackson. However, though entertaining, this episode of the South Bank show was not really challenging and it didn’t reveal things about the RSC, that I didn’t know already from reading interviews with Michael Boyd and from the RSC’s own publicity material. Maybe the overall description of the programme was ‘on message’ as far as the RSC was concerned.
I found the trip to Russia and the background to The Grain Store very interesting. I also thought that it was great to see actors in rehearsal and to watch the bit on how the new theatre is progressing. I thought it was amusing that Mariah Gale and Katy Stephens practice their speeches in funny voices. However, alongside all this interesting nuggets of information, I felt that the main purpose of the programme was to promote the RSC’s current vision. The programme highlighted the committment to the ensemble idea and the rationale behind the new theatre space. Michael Boyd reiterated his distaste of celebrity culture, which he has mentioned in other places. The programme also gave us the reason why the RSC are committed to performing new writing and linked all this back to Peter Hall’s vision for the RSC. What the programme didn’t seem to do was critique the new direction or really place this in the context of other ways that the RSC could evolve and develop.
The idea of the ensemble brings massive benefits, and of course The Histories project is used to as an example to support this approach. It will be great to see this year’s ensemble at work in new plays next year. However, it is also very exciting to see new actors and new approaches. I have written in previous places on the blog that I feel that the ensemble is not making enough of the opportunity to take ideas across more than one play as Greg Doran did in the 2008 season with his utilisation of the mirrored set for three productions. This ensemble company had been split into two and are in effect, until the Russian plays, two separate companies as far as I could see in the way they approached The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It and Julius Caesar. Only having the one theatre has meant that there isn’t as much productions. in 2010, this year’s productions will be repeated and joined by new productions, but with the same actors. There are benefits of seeing the company play in different spaces and though I love The Courtyard, I miss smaller spaces like The Other Place and I would love to see a production at The Swan again when it reopens.
In addition, to the commitment to the ensemble, the new theatre space, the RSC do embrace other approaches. They do bring in new companies during the ensemble run such as the wonderful Twelfth Night this autumn. I have also written about how well the RSC productions transfer to the proscenium arch space and maybe it is a positive thing that the RSC can work on the thrust stage as well as in the traditional theatres it also uses. Finally, I know that some actors had built up a reputation in the theatre before becoming celebrities due to television work, but actors such as David Tennant and Richard Wilson bring enormous benefits to the RSC as does the current RSC ensemble approach.
Reviews
between the acts 