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.
The final production in the Donmar's stellar West End season opened last night (3 June 2009, previews from 29 May), with Jude Law following hot on David Tennant's heels as the Dane in Hamlet at the Wyndham's theatre.
Tennant - who won raves for his performance in Gregory Doran's RSC production last year (See Review Round-up, 6 Aug 2008) - set a high bar for Law, for whom many had predicted the critical knives would be out ahead of last night's opening.
Law, whose last appearance on a London stage was in Dr Faustus at the Young Vic in 2002, is joined in the cast by Donmar West End stalwarts Kevin R McNally (Ivanov) as Claudius and Ron Cook (Twelfth Night) as Polonius. Penelope Wilton, acclaimed for her performance in The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse last year plays Gertrude, while Gugu Mbatha-Raw (recently seen in Gethsemane at the National) plays Ophelia.
Hamlet is directed by Donmar artistic director Grandage - who took over from Kenneth Branagh, the season’s artistic associate (See News, 14 Oct 2008) - and designed by Christopher Oram, with lighting by Neil Austin and sound by Adam Cork.
“People who come to patronise him as a movie star essaying the great Dane will be in for a shock” writes the Guardian's Michael Billington, who, like most of his colleagues, kept his knife firmly sheathed. Some, including the Daily Mail's Quentin Letts, felt that in “the great Hamlet bout” it is in fact Law who now has the edge, although most noted his performance lacks the “wry humour” of Tennant's portrayal. There was little consensus regarding the other principals, with some finding Kevin R McNally's Claudius “colourless” and others “nuanced” - Mbatha-Raw's Ophelia also ran the gamut from “touchingly bewildered” to “disappointing”. Penelope Wilton was generally considered a “stand-out” with her “initially complacent, finally deeply mistrustful” Gertrude. But the evening firmly belonged to Law, who, according to the Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer, “joins the modern pantheon of spellbinding sweet princes with a performance of rare vulnerability and emotional openness”.
Maxwell Cooter on Whatsonstage.com (three stars) - “Law must be one of the angriest Hamlets ever, when he exclaims 'now could I drink hot blood', you wonder what he could have been feasting on before now. There’s little of the philosopher prince contemplating life’s bigger questions; there’s little of the hesitancy of a man weighing up a host of options ... Law speaks the verse beautifully - if a trifle rapidly at first - and he’s riding high on charisma … What’s missing is the political tension, which Grandage underplays. There’s little sign of tension about Fortinbras’ intentions and Laertes is not the focus of a popular revolt. In fact, we’re not quite sure why Kevin R McNally’s rather colourless Claudius seizes the throne … But there’s a fine Gertrude from Penelope Wilton, portraying a woman with real fire in her, who gradually learns the truth about her second husband.”
Michael Billington in the Guardian (three stars) “It is heartening to find Wyndham's teeming with young people. And, even if they are drawn by the star power of Jude Law they will get to see a swift, clear, well-staged version of Shakespeare's most exciting play …What exactly does Law bring to Hamlet? Principally, a sense of moody solitude and moral disgust … I missed the quicksilver humour that is part of Hamlet's character. But Law's Hamlet has the right inwardness and self-awareness. People who come to patronise him as a movie star essaying the great Dane will be in for a shock ... The other stand-out performance is Penelope Wilton's magnificent Gertrude. I have always thought the part underwritten but, by the simple expedient of always living in the moment, Wilton fills in Shakespeare's gaps … The best support comes from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, whose touchingly bewildered Ophelia goes quietly mad instead of indulging in a psychiatric cabaret turn.”
Benedict Nightingale in The Times (three stars) - “If the most glamorous young Hamlets of recent months were rivals, which would be more worth following? Myself, I’d go for Tennant, citing the variety that he brought to the role. Not that I would join any posse chasing Law with rotten eggs through Covent Garden. His verse-speaking is immaculate and his charisma comes powering out from below the pock-marked columns, black walls and towering gates of Christopher Oram’s grim set ... There’s little here of Tennant’s wry humour or vulnerability, though Law’s Hamlet does have moments of anguish in Gertrude’s bedroom and, near the end, acquires some depth when he ponders the meaning of death … As the praying Claudius, Kevin R. McNally produces the inner anguish that Law misses and in Penelope Wilton he has a fine Gertrude, initially complacent, finally deeply mistrustful of her husband. However, a curt Ron Cook misses Polonius’s garrulous self-regard and, as Ophelia, Gugu Mbatha-Raw could do more to prepare for a breakdown that anyway lacks sexual horror.”
Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail (three stars) - “This week we had the great Hamlet bout. Could Jude Law be as good in the role as David Tennant was in last year’s Royal Shakespeare Company production? And the news from the West End ringside, so far as I’m concerned, is that it’s a squeaker - and that Mr Law is just ahead on points. That said, the Wyndham’s production is not a patch on the RSC show in several other respects. The company has been strangely miscast. Its Claudius, Ophelia, Laertes, Horatio, Gertrude and ghost are all disappointing … But handsome Mr Law is excellent. He makes a likeable Hamlet, without, thank goodness, the bulging-eyed, 21st century sarcasm of Mr Tennant … This Hamlet also explodes with anger at his onetime friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when he gathers that they are trying to deceive him. Throughout the second half, Mr Law really motors.”
Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard (three stars) - “The knives (or indeed bodkins) were out for Law from the moment it was announced that he was taking on the title role. Now they can be sheathed. For as the scholar-soldier-prince Law’s performance is detailed and powerful … Law’s is not a funny Hamlet, but he possesses both self-lacerating candour and romantic dash. Among the supporting roles - this is a play, of course, in which the lead speaks roughly 40 per cent of the lines - Ron Cook’s Polonius, a mass of ceremonious expostulations, stands out ... Kevin McNally’s Claudius resembles a cross between gangster and bureaucrat, while Penelope Wilton, hardly an obvious choice to play Gertrude, has been made to look desperately dowdy. Still, McNally’s performance is nuanced, and Wilton shows fine control … The closet scene in which Hamlet stabs Polonius is handled with originality (we, like Polonius, become eavesdroppers). Just as arresting, though less readily explicable, is the decision to have Law deliver 'To be or not to be' while being showered with snow. Such quirks will divide opinion, but the strength of Law’s performance is impossible to deny.”
Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph - “Jude Law, who confessed to moments of absolute terror about playing the role during rehearsals, joins the modern pantheon of spellbinding sweet princes with a performance of rare vulnerability and emotional openness … Law's boyish Hamlet is often on the brink of tears, but there is also no mistaking the intelligence of his mind or the nobility of his heart as he confides in the audience in soliloquies that allow us to follow every fleeting thought, every quicksilver change of mood … The Donmar Warehouse's West End season is particularly aimed at new audiences and Michael Grandage's gripping, accessible production strikes me as the ideal introduction to this greatest of all plays … Peter Eyre gives a thrilling masterclass in Shakespearean verse-speaking as both the Ghost and the Player King … Ron Cook captures both the humour and the grating-voiced meanness of spirit of Polonius, Penelope Wilton movingly captures the wracked anguish of Gertrude and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is simply the sweetest, prettiest and most pitifully vulnerable Ophelia I have ever seen.”
The Donmar’s season in the West End comes to end with its high-profile Hamlet. And as befits a Hollywood star, Jude Law is firmly at the focus of Michael Grandage’s production, although whether the play benefits from this is questionable.
Law must be one of the angriest Hamlets ever, when he exclaims “now could I drink hot blood”, you wonder what he could have been feasting on before now. There’s little of the philosopher prince contemplating life’s bigger questions; there’s little of the hesitancy of a man weighing up a host of options. Law’s performance is more suited to Harry Hotspur than to the Prince of Denmark – he’s straining for revenge even before he hears the Ghost’s story. This Hamlet would have killed Claudius, beaten up Rosencrantz and Guildenstern before the interval and spent the second half sending Fortinbras packing.
It’s a contrast to Law’s last performance on the London stage, at the Young Vic in 2002, when he was the rather underwhelming Dr Faustus. Here, he’s a man determined to make the stage his own. He rails at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, almost throttles Gertrude in the bedroom scene and treats Ophelia particularly brusquely. Law speaks the verse beautifully – if a trifle rapidly at first - and he’s riding high on charisma.
His performance works wonders in lighting up the set: designer Christopher Oram seems to have taken Hamlet’s dictum that “Denmark is a prison”, rather too literally. The play takes place in sombre darkness, the high walls illuminated by a few shafts of light, while the black and greys worn by everyone underlines the gloom.
What’s missing is the political tension, which Grandage underplays. There’s little sign of tension about Fortinbras’ intentions and Laertes is not the focus of a popular revolt. In fact, we’re not quite sure why Kevin R McNally’s rather colourless Claudius seizes the throne – it can’t be for the pomp and there isn’t much trace of sexual longing for Gertrude.
Ron Cook doesn’t really get to grips with Polonius. We see neither glimpses of the wise counsellor that the king and queen nor the garrulous fool that the rest of us do. He seems more like a middle-ranking business manager than a central figure at court. But there’s a fine Gertrude from Penelope Wilton, portraying a woman with real fire in her, who gradually learns the truth about her second husband.
Law’s presence will undoubtedly be a huge attraction for audiences, and he gives a good account of himself. But the best productions of Shakespeare’s great tragedy are those where the play’s political, philosophical and domestic themes are interwoven as one and where Hamlet acts accordingly. That’s not quite the case here.
The most appalling attempt i have ever seen - this is Jude Law introspective not Hamlet and he is so one dimensional!
Only the female fan base I think allowed this to happen. Not all screen actors can make it on the stage - he bored me most of the time -sorry Jude! - Dave J
11 Feb 11
This is a very good Hamlet with real pace, facilitated by a relatively small stage and a simple but elegant design. Having seen Jude Law several times (albeit most of them some time back) I knew he was a good stage actor, but I have to say that here he is hugely impressive and gives the role his all. His pivotal scene with the ever wonderful Dame-in-waiting Penelope Wilton is particularly electrifying. So the Donmar West End season ends on a high. This audience comprised the usual suspects, with additional rich kids (the girls in front of me felt they'd done enough star spotting by the interval so they left!), so I genuinely don't feel the accessibility policy hasn't really worked - but it's still good to see 'house full' signs for classic drama whilst weak programming that patronises the theatre-going public closes. - Gareth James
12 Aug 09
An interesting and mostly enjoyable production ith Jude Law playing Hamlet as very angry. Whilst the beauty of the writing was made harsher by the anger, this was a fine performance. Of the others, Penelope Wilton, Kevin McNally and Ron Cook all turned in good performances. I found it interesting that Gertrude and Claudius' relationship notcieably soured with Gertrude refusing his hand and signally her discontent. I was less convinced by Matt Ryan's Horatio with the opening scenes in particular almost out of control and just loud and hysterical. Alex Waldmann's Laertes and Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Ophelia failed to convince. One of the great successes was the staging. I loved the modern costumes and the use of greys and blacks as predominant colours. Also the lighting was excellent. I especially loved the opening with Hamlet sitting alone, looking imprisoned. Not a great Hamlet but certainly worth the effort. - Paul Wallis
07 Aug 09
One of the great nights in the theatre, Jude more than thrilled, he is very good stage actor, so glad I went.
Some great support from McNally, Penny Wilton and the excellent Peter Eyre. BUT also some very poor casting, sorry to say.
R&G and in Act One Ophelia, plus a few others. Ron Cooke Cook made a very diffrent Polonius.
Loved the staging of his death - clever.
Liked the Laertes a lot, would not mind seeing him when on for Hamlet.
The lighting on that simple set was fab and the sound scape (which I am sure many did not even notice) was excellent through out the 3 hours plus, gave every scene a sense of place and really enhanced the 'mood'.
So for me no reason why not up there with the David Tenant and Old Vic Ben W Hamlet's, all for very diffrent reasons - fantasic. - jamie tate
07 Aug 09
Sorry Jude but you just didnt cut it for me! Infact the production on a whole was a very 'safe' if not slightly boring version of what is one of my fave Shakespeare plays.
I'll start with Jude- Now I dont care whether he's a famous film star or just some guy off the street as long as his Hamlet is engaging (and he really should be considering he spends so much time onstage)thats fine with me.
To begin with he looked slightly too old to be playing Hamlet, again not a problem if he made his Hamlet a slightly older, wiser or even world weary Hamlet. However instead of doing any of this he played him as an angry hormonal 21 year old...something a 35+ with a receeding hairline really cant pull off. Perhaps if he'd done this role 10 years ago this would have been a fair and believable interpretation, but certainly not at his present age. His speeches were perfectly adequete but he brought *no* humour at all to his overall performance. I've seen Hamlet about 3 times previously and know that Hamlet can be witty, funny and really have the audience rooting for him throughout. After over 3 hours of watching Jude stomp around the stage basically yelling at everyone I couldnt have cared a less whether Hamlet lived or died! I think this was the overall problem, I could never quite figure out what his Hamlet's reasons were for acting the way he did, yes he was angry at his mother marrying his uncle but theres more to Hamlet than just this. Jude Law basically just seemed to say the words (or should I say shout them?) in what many would deem an acceptable manner, but there was very little meaning behind them. For a character to be onstage so much the audience, espeically in the case of Hamlet, has to care about what happens to them not just be proud of them for getting through god knows how many soliloquies.
In some ways (and I may be un-popular for saying this) Mr Law might have made a more interesting choice for a young Claudius. He could have brought the anger that he displayed as Hamlet, the slightly aging good looks and perhaps something a little different to a well known character which he sadly failed to do this time as the lead.
Back to the other actors - Ophelia was a complete waste of space, there was nothing between her and Hamlet which made his supposedly impassioned "I loved Ophelia!" line later on in the play completely wasted. Again, the actress playing Ophelia portrayed her a very young and innocent adolescent girl but was quite obviously not that young herself making her decisions as that character a bit confusing. I'd like to point out that I'm not ageist at all, but I also believe that if you're quite clearly playing a character as very very young you need to be very young yourself for it to make sense.
The Ghost was terrible, no tension and I didnt believe anyone was actually scared of him, they all just looked like they were over-reacting to an old man in a dusty grey trench coat.
I quite liked Rosencratz and Guildenstern but again think more could have been done with their characters and their relationship with Hamlet.
The only scene that really stood out for me was the killing of Polonius (a rare bit of creative initiative!) and the following bedroom scene between Hamlet and Gertrude - the only part of the production where Jude Law's angry Hamlet actually made sense and had impact.
Set was boring boring boring, it looked liked they'd done it as an after thought and I didnt like the "mood music" that played whilst characters were talking to imply what "mood" the audience should be feeling.
Overall a bit of a wasted opportunity, its almost like they knew theyd get the audience numbers no matter what because of Jude Laws presence so the pressure to actually make this production more than just average wasn't there. - Kate M
06 Aug 09
Jude Law (Branagh's genius influence obvious in his performance) and the older cast members, especially Penelope Wilton, were superb but badly let down by the kids. One seemed to have been cast for a singing voice alone. The Donmar 'look' is getting a bit hackneyed and would even a madman sit in the snow in his bare feet and jim jams? (by the way what is a "depressing pansy" g - three paragraphs down?) Dire threats along with the turn off mobiles announcement are needed as the whole show was nearly ruined by the groups of moronic girls shrieking and squirming and one who coughed unsuppressed and relentlessly for three hours. - joesmith
06 Jul 09
I forgot to mention the wonderful Peter
Eyre as the ghost of Hamlet's father.
His voice is a national treasure!
- rds
04 Jul 09
Jude Law makes a stunning Hamlet. He captures the very essence of Shakespeare's tortured Dane and brings with it a vitality that's been lost in many other interpretations of late. The usual brooding Dane has been replaced with Law's exuberant performance. I didn't see David Tennant, as he was off with back problems, but I did see, unfortunately, Toby Stephen's pathetic attempt at the part a few years back. Jude Law owes it to theatre goers to make the stage a bigger part of his working life than he has done up until now. I'd love to see him tackle more Shakespearian roles and modern classics too. The rest of the cast complemented his performance, Ron Cook was a fine Polonius as was Kevin McNally's devious Claudius. David Burke rang every drop of humour from the gravedigger and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (imagine that up in lights!) was very affecting as Ophelia. The divine Penelope Wilton, that woman can do no wrong (here I take some of that back) made a good stab at Gertrude, but somehow left me somewhat cold and not for the right reasons either - that's my only criticism of the play. Jude Law is a Hamlet for today and has acquitted himself well in the part. Taken together with Christopher Oram's fine staging and Michael Grandage's clear direction it is a winner and I would not be at all surprised to see this production crossing the pond in the very near future. - rds
04 Jul 09
We had the cheapest seats, which weren't even seats, standing for the entire three hours high up in the balconey where it's extremely hard to make out the actors' faces. Yet even from our 'Mt Olympus', Jude Law's performance was amazing and extremely engaging - and after all these years of thinking Hamlet as being a depressed pansy, he finally made me see how enjoyable the character really is. - g
25 Jun 09
I think its completly unfair that all the reviews for Law's production are focussing on how good Tennant was in the role compared to Law. It is unjustified. Law was much better than I was expecting (having read the reviews before hand), but I thought he was brilliant and he hasn't got the credit he deserves. The best Hamlet I have seen, he captured each aspect of the character, the different emotions he goes through. The rest of the cast were very good also, notably Ron Cook's Polonius, though I thought Laertes was a bit forced. Aside from that, excellent production, with a great (as always) minimalistic and yet majestic set from Christopher Oram. Another top Grandage production and one which I am now very greatful that I went to see! And at £32 for the most expensive seats for over 3 hours of running time, its well worth getting tickets for!!! - Ellie
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