One Last Time January 4, 2009
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , trackbackDespite the Royal Shakespeare Company saying that David Tennant’s back injury would keep him off the stage until 5 Jan, the rumours had been flying around this wee corner of the internet for the last few days. Some of the more obsessed fans were driving rsc.org.uk‘s hit rate into the stratosphere, looking for updates. So it was probably a good idea that before the curtain came up on last night’s performance of Hamlet at the Novello the producer came on stage to ‘clarify that tonight the part of Hamlet will be played by … David Tennant’. The theatre erupted, and didn’t calm down until the first soldier was well onto the stage.
Being only slightly obsessed, this was the fourth time I’ve seen this production. I’ve never done that with a play before, but this repays repeated viewing, as I become more aware of the nuances and depth of dialogue. I’ve probably seen Hamlet 8 or 9 times now, and serious theatres goers may well see it twenty, thirty or more times in a lifetime. So, if you, dear reader (and I use the singular advisedly) aren’t too tired of this, here’s one final Hamlet review, at least for this run.
This performance was every bit as absorbing as my first, and the ensemble seemed somehow more relaxed, the performances more intense than when I saw it on 5 Dec. Given that was just before Tennant went sick, and he was certainly in pain, its not surprising he seemed a little off that night. This time, he made a few concessions to his surgery, walking off the stage rather than running, and avoiding a couple of leaps, but was still extremely energetic and physical. I hate to think of him being in pain for something I enjoyed so much, but if he was, it certainly didn’t show.
Sitting in row D of the stalls (with specs this time), the faces were so much more visible. I became quite absorbed with watching Penny Downie (Gertrude). As Patrick Stewart (Claudius) is telling Hamlet, to stop mourning his father she is a picture of uncertainty and during the Players scene Gertrude becomes more and more angry, and disturbed, by what she is seeing, while Claudius is a mask of repressed fury. I know its what they’re there for, but in every scene every single actor is doing something, showing something.
The oedipal nature of the bedroom scene gets stronger every time I see this production. Hamlet’s anger at his mother is almost that of a jealous lover rather than a horrified son. He scorns his mother’s sexuality, but at the same time seems fixated on it. It’s here that the contrast between Tennant’s performance and that of the understudy, Ed Bennett, hits me hardest. Bennett’s performance was very competent, certainly very clear, but somehow, in this scene particularly, far more simplistic.
Tennant’s Hamlet is deeply uncertain, sad more than angry, but also an arrogant young prince, witty and intelligent, most of all a vulnerable, tragic young man who doesn’t really have the strength he needs to deal with the situation in which he finds himself.
Hamlet plays at the Novello until 10 Jan. No chance of tickets now!
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[...] brave of the semi-professional Tower Theatre Company to stage Hamlet in between the wonderful RSC / David Tennant production last Christmas and the Donmar’s version with Jude Law this summer but they’re clearly [...]