Hamlet (Tobacco Factory Theatres)

These days, you think Hamlet and you think of the three types of actors that play him; the star (Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant); the great stage actor (Rory Kinnear, Jonathan Slinger or Maxine Peake); the star is born (Ben Whishaw's fragile prince in 2004, for example). Audiences flock to the play to see an actor embody Shakespeare's sweet prince and are less concerned with the political thriller set in the state of Denmark, however much Scandi-noir is now hip. Alan Mahon's take on the character, under the careful direction of Andrew Hilton, is perfectly serviceable, but doesn't dominate which allows us deeper access to the play itself.

Hilton brings a clarity and academic illumination to the piece. It is both the production's strength and its weakness. This is a Hamlet perfect for the first-timer, well-told, which builds in pace to its bloody climax and reminds us the play is much more then just a series of scenes which show us Hamlet's internal struggles. Yet Hilton doesn't impose concept, he just plays moment to moment what is on the page and consequently, though not staid, it does feels safe. With costume designs that highlight the Renaissance prince, it sometimes reminds of one of those BBC Shakespeares from the early 80's; well meaning but earnest. For those whom this isn't their first tumble in the hay with the Wittenberg scholar don't expect any new insight into the play or its characters.

Mahon's prince is a gangly youth who from his first appearance in the court stands aloof, face and body shrouded in the shadows. His inaction in assassinating his uncle who has murdered his father and married his mother feels as much youthful inertia as any fear in divine retribution. Vocally he's a little underpitched, the RP accent imposed on this native Dubliner restricts the colour he could provide the text. He does the anger and frustration well and occasionally nails the wit, his hitting of the 'cu' in 'country girl' shows his relish in sexual matters, like a perpetual horny teen that even in grief has time to think about getting his leg-over. The best Hamlets teeter close to the edge of madness, whether feigned or real, but Mahon always feels too much in control, much like the production itself. He is likeable and catches the sweetness in the prince but he is still more boy than man by the climax.

The ensemble come to the fore in this Elsinore but the playing is hit and miss. Paul Currier's Claudius is neither a Machiavellian tyrant or sympathetic politiciser but a softly spoken non-entity while Julia Hills doesn't add much to the admittedly under-written Gertrude. On the plus side there is a touchingly comic spin on Polonius by Ian Barritt, a Grave Digger by Nicky Goldie who pushes herself onto Horatio and reminds one of the close philosophical links between sex and death. There's one of the best Ophelias I've seen in Isabella Marshall: poised and classy early on, a real match for a prince and who later takes those complicated mad scenes and makes them terrifying, dangerous and heartbreaking all at once.

The text cuts away much of the politics and focuses on the family tragedy at its heart which means it comes in at a shade over three hours. The storytelling is as crystalline as we have come to expect from Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, just don't expect the production to challenge or question your previous assumption on the play.

Hamlet runs at the Tobacco Factory until 30 April.