in honour of hamlet hail to the thief being over in both international studios and RSC i thought i should list some of my favourite details from the performance:
the use of smoke encompassing the stage at different points throughout was amazing, especially since it added to the atmosphere and theme of surveillance with its association of claudius smoking
hamlet and ophelia were adorable in their relationship, their dances together were so cute and devastating
the transition from scene to scene was done so well, especially since it incorporated the dances to songs from the album
THE DANCE SCENES they were all incredible and will haunt me in the way that they showed the dynamics between characters, i never thought i needed shakespearean characters dancing to radiohead that badly but it worked, shoutout to claudius being vampiric towards gertrude and hamlet and the animalistic fight between claudius and hamlet
the ways that the characters sung the lyrics to the songs, especially hamlet being the one singing the most was very neat, i think hamlet sung scatterbrain at some point which stuck with me
the supernatural really was explored well, with the ghost of old hamlet being terrifying in possessing hamlet and that later being put into affect with hamlet reanimating polonius’ body to move it, it was so fucking cool
the characterisation of claudius, gertrude, and polonius were very good, gertrude was a bit different to how i personally see her but her being trapped and devoted to hamlet works well with it being less political and more horror, and polonius being dignified and respectable is always preferable to me no matter how funny he can be so the closet scene was so interesting with him actively trying to save gertrude by restraining hamlet before hamlet accidentally kills him in surprise
ophelia ophelia ophelia the beloved, i love how it was emphasised that the ‘to be or not to be’ speech was said to her specifically and the affect it had on her with her repeating it before she dies, her lively, rebellious nature being subdued hurt so much AND HER SINGING SAIL TO THE MOON, stab me in the heart why don’t you
ophelia falling into a grave that opened in the middle of the stage which showed her death then the cut to hamlet in the gravedigger scene tiptoeing playfully along the edges of the grave, yeah now you’re not only stabbing my heart but actively ripping it out, thanks
the closet scene was so interesting with hamlet keeping his distance then wiping the blood from gertrude’s hands (a contrast to the RSC 2025 production which rotates in my mind on a regular basis)
the final scene was everything to me, it was information overload in the best way possible and my jaw was dropped the whole time, i’m not sure if this was just the performance i saw but gertrude spitting the poisoned wine in laertes’ face will forever shock me
non binary horatio ily, i forgot the actors name but their performance throughout and especially at the end was incredible (but i may be biased because horatio is my favourite).
the actor for hamlet was incredible as were the rest of the cast and the orchestra which could not be emphasised enough!!!
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