RSC Gets Tough to Tackle Hamlet Ticket Forgeries???

The Royal Shakespeare Company has hit another problem in its ongoing battle against ticket touts in the run-up to the London transfer of David Tennant’s Hamlet, which begins previews at the Novello theatre this week (3 December 2008). Following reports that many counterfeit tickets are now in circulation, the company has been left with no choice but to re-print all genuine tickets on newly designed paper.

The measure, which requires patrons to present a valid form of ID on the evening of the performance in order to retrieve the replacement tickets, is bound to create another headache for the box office, which has already had to contend with an unprecedented flood of demand since the tickets first went on sale (See The Goss, 12 September 2008).

Gregory Doran’s wildly anticipated Royal Shakespeare Company production of the tragedy stars Tennant as the Prince and Patrick Stewart, following his Tony-nominated Broadway turn in Macbeth, as the Ghost and Claudius. Prior to their screen successes, Tennant and Stewart had both racked up myriad RSC and other stage credits. They’re joined in the cast by Penny Downie (as Gertrude), Oliver Ford Davies (Polonius), Peter de Jersey (Horatio), Edward Bennett (Laertes), John Woodvine (the Player King) and Mariah Gale (Ophelia).