Hamlet (again)

by William Shakespeare

seen at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 28 August 2017

This is director Robert Icke's Almeida production (reviewed in March this year) with Andrew Scott as a superlative Hamlet, transferred to the West End. I decided to see it again in the company of two friends from Australia and we all enjoyed it immensely.

There have been some changes of cast from the original. In particular Derbhle Crotty took over from Juliet Stevenson as Gertrude in early July, and Joshua Higgott plays Horatio. The portrayal of Gertrude was less imperious; the dangerous flirtatiousness at court was absent. This led to her being slightly more enigmatic, and the crisis brought on by Hamlet's searing accusations in the bedroom scene was the more devastating because she seemed a more vulnerable woman. Horatio, in turn, was presented as a friend far more unmanned by Hamlet's death at the end.

I noticed several nuanced touches more clearly this time, which added to the rich texture of the production. Not only was Hamlet in hiding in the early scene when Laertes somewhat officiously warns Ophelia about him, but Laertes himself sees him after he has spoken, unfortunately just as Polonius arrives, so he cannot register anything but panicked embarrassment. Hamlet himself signals more awareness of the eavesdropping surrounding him, when he whispers into his collar in mockery as both Polonius and Ophelia have done: they have concealed microphones whereas he of course does not. Finally, at the beginning of the fencing scene, where Laertes questions the foils, the usual piece of business is that he deliberately swaps his first foil for the one that is poisoned. Here, more strongly indicating that he regrets his compliance in Claudius's plot, he already has the deadly weapon and holds it aghast - the line has been changed from 'This foil is too heavy. Let me see another' to 'I like not this foil.' - appealing in vain to the implacable king to let him off the hook. (This is all the more necessary because the dialogue of the fencing scene is almost entirely drowned out by the noise and music of the video presentation.)

The most significant textual alteration (apart from cuts and changes to make the play a manageable length) I spotted was by Hamlet, who said to Horatio 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.' The phrase is actually 'in your philosophy', but the articulation was very definite, not a mistake.

The two most worrying directorial interventions remain. Firstly, the encounter between Claudius and Hamlet just after the abortive 'mouse trap' play, where any idea that they might really have confronted one another is quite contradicted by what is said by them, each clearly speaking as if alone. Secondly, the curious scene at the end in which the dead get up and walk past the Ghost (handing him their watches as they go) into some sort of unspecified after-life. This distracts from the poignant final exchanges between Laertes and Hamlet, and more importantly, between Horatio and Hamlet, and is not a satisfactory resolution of the overall tragedy.

Andrew Scott's Hamlet remains a wonderful interpretation, with an astonishing control of rhythm and pace, and the uncanny ability to speak even the most familiar lines as if they had never been uttered before, yet without any sense of strain or theatricality (apart from when he is mocking himself and inviting our collusion). Indeed the quiet intimacy and intensity of the whole cast was spellbinding throughout, and made the occasional outbursts of anger, madness or despair all the more shocking.

I have no regrets about seeing it again.