Hamlet. HAMLET!!!
Okay. Deep breaths.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeee what a fabulous play!
Everyone - [i]everyone[/i] - did a fabulous job.
It was staged with a theme of mirrors. The backdrop was a huge wall of mirrors that doubled as doors and wall hangings (i.e. for people to hide behind), and the floor was reflective, too. Since we were up on the second balcony, the floor really affected how we viewed the play. (I get to go back in a fortnight, sitting face-on, and I can't wait to see how that changes it.) There were a lot of other little uses of mirrors as well. When the Ghost first appears, and then disappears, they used body doubles and made it seems like a house of mirrors as Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus chase it.
The pantomime that precedes the Murder of Gonzago was simply brilliant. I honestly can't imagine a more authentic staging of how that sort of thing probably went. It was racy and over-done and had a guy pretending to be a dwarf. So hilariously accurate.
On to the cast.
The guy who played Polonius absolutely [i]nailed[/i] the doddering old windbag part. I couldn't believe how much hilarity he put into that role. At one point, he may or may not have forgotten his lines (I think ours was still a preview performance) - it was hard to tell if he genuinely forgot or if it was just part of being Polonius. I would just love to see that actor play Lear. Him, or the man who played the Player Leader.
Horatio was good, though a bit more... high-strung than I've always imagined him. I got his signature on my copy of the play after. Woot.
Ophelia was very good as well. She was played as a more lively person in her opening exchange with Laertes, which made her subsequent decline a bit harder to understand, but she played it so well that it was quite heart-rending. Her madness and sing-song was brilliant. I got her signature, too.
Laertes was a bit of a ponce. A little arrogant, and a little pretentious. You didn't like him (or at least, I didn't), but at the same time he was kind of endearing.
Osric was a toady and a prat, and he did it perfectly.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern made me understand, for the first time, how Hamlet could call them friends and then send them to their deaths. You clearly see them as once-friends, now the king's men. Friends who think they know what's best for you, friends who are only spending time with you because they've been asked to for a reward. Incidentally, one of the comic moments in the play was when they appeared and Claudius thanks them as "Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern." In the text, Gertrude follows this with "Our thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz." I don't know how it's usually played, but in this case, they played it was Gertrude correcting Claudius, who can't really remember who is who.
And now to the part I'm sure most people actually care about: Patrick Stewart and David Tennant.
Patrick Stewart was nothing less than the consummate actor he is. He played a great Claudius, very straightforward. It was quite the contrast to Tennant (more on that in a moment). His regret in Act III, Scene III was so well-played. You understand his dilemma completely, and you really have compassion for him.
And David Tennant. Aside from his role as the Doctor, he is a Shakespearian-trained actor, and played with the RSC for 5 years or so before heading to the big time. And he did a very, very good job of Hamlet. He really was as excellent as I thought he would be. He played Hamlet entirely sane - at least, after his conversation with the Ghost. During the first few scenes he does a remarkable job of a young man who's watched his world fall apart around him, and can't do anything about it. After, he is energised, and plays Hamlet with a sort of manic purpose.
Honestly, I never thought Hamlet could be so downright [i]goofy[/i].
Fans of Doctor Who will recognise some familiar mannerisms, but they really work. Hamlet has such a purpose, and is so disconnected from those around him, so bitter, that his assumed madness takes the form of outright mockery of others. And it's just plain [i]funny[/i]. It's almost like he despairs, and so hides nothing. The main exception to this is his encounter with Ophelia, which broke my heart (Act III, Scene I). His speech to her ("Get thee to a nunnery") is played, as far as I can tell, as if he does not know about Polonius and Claudius eavesdropping. It comes across more as a condemnation of himself and humanity in general than a condemnation of Ophelia. But then there's a noise, and he asks "Where's your father?" and we see him change, get angry. It's very sad to watch the relationship they might have had break apart in that instant. Again, I don't know how it's usually staged. It's been far, far too long since I've had the chance to watch top-notch actors do it. But this was excellent.
The play is excellent. All of it. Believe me, you wish you were there.
I really can't wait to see it again. Might stick around another night next time and try and pick up return tickets. It was just that good. It's too bad a production like this will be gone so quickly.