Hamlet at The Barbican

Well, I’ve finally seen the Hamlet that everyone’s been talking about and I tend to agree with all that’s been said.  Benedict Cumberbatch is very, very good, whilst several of his fellow cast members are less so.  Having seen him in After The Dance and Frankenstein, both as monster and his creator, I am well aware that Cumberbatch is no flash in the pan, over-hyped actor.  There is so much more to him than a piece of “hot totty” lusted over by hordes of young girls.  And, although his beautifully spoken Hamlet is never in danger of going over the edge into madness or losing control, it is bestowed with an humaneness and sardonic sense of humour.  I’m not entirely sure why the Director Lyndsey Turner, has him dressed as a toy soldier, hiding away in a toy castle, when he is feigning madness, but it is a very funny moment. 

This being my first trip to The Barbican, I was astonished at the size of the stage, all the more so, when seeing it’s transformation into the dining hall (complete with “Gone With The Wind” stairs”) of a magnificent country mansion.  So luscious is Es Devlin’s design, that it runs the risk of being a show all on its own.  However it has its limitations.  Act I closes with a blizzard billowing huge amounts of grit through all the doors and windows.  Is this to highlight the devastation to come, or as means of portraying the outdoor scenes in Act II?  Possibly an amalgamation of the two, but it doesn’t really work; for me, anyway.  I wouldn’t think Sian Brooke’s Ophelia is that keen on the idea either, as her pre-suicidal departure is taken, barefoot up a steep grit encrusted slope …. Ouch!

It is this rather hit-and-miss feature that seems to highlight this production.  Everything works up to a point but there are several gaping holes, not least the inaudibility of many of the cast.  Even Ciaran Hinds as Claudius mumbles into his beard at times and I’m afraid I didn’t catch any of Horatio’s (Leo Bill) final speech.  Sian Brooke’s Ophelia may be frail throughout, but her descent into utter despair is as underwhelming as her rather reedy voice. The usually brilliant Anastasia Hille is also disappointing.  There is no chemistry whatsoever between her Gertrude and Claudius and no one would ever know she is Hamlet’s mother, so distant is her relationship to him.  It takes her realisation that Ophelia is in danger, to elicit anything resembling warmth of character.

This may all sound damning in the extreme but, thanks to our young Mr. Cumberbatch and the odd revelatory touch by Lyndsey Turner, this latest Hamlet is worth seeing.  I’m glad I didn’t miss his arresting performance and his athleticism when leaping up onto the huge banqueting table is worth the ticket price alone!!  Alas, not so the programme cost.  Eight pounds fifty for a souvenir brochure and no alternative programme, apart from a cast list, is way too steep.