Hamlet - The Liverpool Shakespeare Festival

Synopsis

Written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. The play vividly charts the course of real and feigned madness - from overwhelming grief to seething rage - and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.

Our Review:

18 August 2009

To go or not to go, that is the question.

On the evidence of the performances here then the answer is without doubt in the affirmative and Lode Star should be congratulated wholeheartedly on their achievement.

Every actor feels born to play The Prince Of Denmark and - in this production which forms one half of this year’s Liverpool Shakespeare Festival - Stephen Fletcher must be pleased at his decision to take the role on. Filled with wit and guile, anger, madness and not a little venom, Fletcher’s representation is one to savour as he prowls the gloriously adorned, semi-circular space with gusto and further enhances his reputation to take any part and make it his own.

Superb too is Ruth Alexander as Gertrude, whose performance is filled with equal measures of self-serving “love” for her new husband that is soon offset by mannerisms of supreme indifference before finally being topped by despair when told of th...

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Latest User Review

Ridgeway - 20 August 2009:

I don't know why Lodestar only give themselves three out of five for their own show (I think it defaults to 3). It was brilliant - I saw it yesterday and was amazed. So glad we've got something like this happening in the city ... can't wait for Rosencrantz and whatsisname now and the CUC is wicked venue...

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