Hamlet

Mixed emotions were the order of the day amongst the full house at this opening night of what will be the last ever production run from the Jacobean courtyard at the George Hotel, Huntingdon by this group, which has taken its name from the venue in which it has performed since 1959.  If you are going to go out, then I guess going for one of the really big Shakespearean Tragedies is the way to do it. And they don’t come more famous than Hamlet, with its plethora of well know quotes that have since entered the English language as a result, -  ‘Me thinks the lady does protest too much - .. And to the manner born - Neither a lender nor a borrower be - Cruel to be kind – Shuffle off this mortal coil - To be or not to be,’ and many others that most people wouldn’t realise came from this masterpiece. Director Lynne Livingstone and her cast and crew certainly rose to the challenge and pulled out all the stops on what was a gloriously warm night that certainly helped with the atmosphere. Although we did get the first amusing moment in the opening scene when we were told how cold it was! 

Starting with the set construction by Chris Thompson, John Secker and Lynne Livingstone, the whole of the back wall of the courtyard had been turned into the stone walls of Elsinore Castle (aka Kronborg Castle, Denmark) complete with upper battlements.  Two central doors, a pretty authentic castle entrance door on the central arch at the rear of the stage leading to the outside of the courtyard with the other half decorated in medieval pattern cloth to depict an internal door. A ghost-like mural was visible at the back of the tunnel, which to be honest I couldn’t quite fathom. Stage right was a medieval cloth covered entrance through which Hamlet was destined to murder Polonia. On the stage was a raised plinth, again made to look like castle stonework which served several scenes very cleverly, particularly the graveyard scene. Some clever touches too. A painted oval portrait of the previous king and queen hung on one of the pillars and little chapel could be seen through the door far stage left. A very well thought out set indeed.

Lighting by Max Richardson subtly and slowly came into its own as dusk fell, adding very well to the atmospheric surroundings. Sound by Martin Avery also worked well, with some neat tricks, although I did struggle at first with my aging ears to accustom them to the resonance of the voice of the ghost. And a little bit more projection especially when speaking up stage would have been welcome.

Costumes, supervised by Helen Arnett were absolutely splendid, as you would expect from a society that has been collecting them for sixty-five years. The bonnets worn by the ladies were particularly impressive as were the regal outfits for the King and Queen. Not ideal to wear though, for what was the hottest night of the year so far.

Young Sam Buckenham, who studied acting at East15 and is obviously looking to go into the profession theatre, was an excellent Hamlet, but not what I was expecting. Less regal and very cleverly playing up the part of Hamlet more as student both in manner and costume, which gave the audience food for thought.  A very well thought out portrayal between actor and director.

By contrast Geoffrey Kirkness as Claudius was certainly regal and well played as a slightly flustered King not quite in control of the situation.  Alex Priestley absolutely nailed Polonia with a perfectly pitched performance. Caroline Molony as Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother trod the line between guilt and expedience, holding her own rather well as Hamlet took her to task over her hasty marriage to Claudius. Georgie Bickerdike as the abused Ophelia played the gambit of emotions to the hilt, nice performance. As was James Barwise’s as the mainly observing Horatio.  Chris Thompson and Jordan White as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern did an excellent double act as Hamlet’s friends, until of course they weren’t! The angry man of the show has to be Daniel Aspel as Laertes, Polonia’s son. The sword fight, directed by Tom Jordan and Kit Gilby between Laertes and Hamlet was rather well choreographed and certainly impressive and definitely more realistic than most I’ve seen.

When it comes to comedy, Hamlet is not your best read. Well, that is until you get to the part where Reuben Milne plays the gravedigger and suddenly the whole theatre just comes alive with mirth. I’ve seen the famous, ‘Alas poor Yorick’ scene many times in my life, but this has to be the best I’ve ever seen. The way he ventriloquised the skull, stealing the scene from Hamlet was hilarious and with the body count about to blossom this put a much-needed light touch into proceedings. Gets mine and I suspect a lot of the audiences vote for best moment of the play. Will stick long in the memory!

Well done also to the other minor characters: Aston Cull (Ghost), Martin Fearon (Fortinbras/Bernardo/ Lucianus), Emily Packer (Osrica), Jane Panter (Player Queen), Andy Wilkes (Marcellus), Mark Hebert (Voltemand/Captain) to be congratulated on playing his sixteenth SaTG production, Sam Cullen (Francisco/Priest/English Ambassador), Kym Downes (Player Prologue) and Harry Georgiou (Door Keeper).

I think we can be absolutely confident that Shakespeare at the George may be about to be consigned to the history books and our memories, but after having seen this topflight production by Lynne Livingstone, her cast and crew, all we are awaiting is the replacement of the word, George. They claim to be near to signing a deal with the new venue but, despite my very pointed questions, nobody is letting on where that is yet. Shakespeare at the ……? Bets anyone? In true Bard fashion, inside information, treachery and betrayal welcome.

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