The continual re-invention of Hamlet

The young actor’s Everest

Shakespeare’s Hamlet has featured on recent exam syllabuses for a number of years. At over five hours’ playing time (uncut) it calls for massive physical stamina from its lead. But more than that, it demands huge emotional depth and range to inhabit the complex and memorable language with which Shakespeare creates the part.

For most young male actors, the role stands as a benchmark against which they must compare themselves, an Everest there to be climbed, their chance not only to make a mark in the theatre world but to be ranked against their peers.

A variety of readings

Given the play’s credentials, as well as its cultural dominance, it is no surprise that every year sees the staging of a number of productions. This is a gift to any teacher wanting their students to understand the dynamics of the drama which operate beyond the page.

How does Hamlet regard Ophelia for example?

• With disgust at her complicity?
• With pain and loss?
• With confusion and despair?
• In anger that any woman may be fickle like his mother?

Any and all of these interpretations are valid readings of the text, so it relies on the tone and gesture of the actor to clearly demonstrate his decision about Hamlet’s motivation.

If you are studying Hamlet this year, see if you can get to one of the productions outlined below. If you can get to more than one, it will be illuminating to see the changes each performer (and director) make to the drama and discuss your responses to the variations.

There is no one way to read Hamlet, but a multiplicity of ways to appreciate it. Enjoy!

Hamlet productions in 2011

Royal National Theatre. Directed by Nicholas Hytner. Rory Kinnear (Hamlet), Clare Higgins (Gertrude), David Calder (Polonius). Lyttelton Theatre, London, 13 – 23 April (020 7452 3000). www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Northern Broadsides. Directed by Conrad Nelson. Nicholas Shaw (Hamlet), Finetime Fontayne (Claudius), Becky Hindley (Gertrude), Richard Evans (Polonius), Tom Kanji (Laertes) and Natalie Dew (Ophelia). Viaduct Theatre, Halifax, 29 March – 2 April; Canolfan y Celfyddyday Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth, 6 – 9 April; West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 19 – 30 April; Theatre at the Mill, Belfast, 4 – 7 May; Gaiety Theatre, Isle of Man, 19 - 21 May; The Rose Theatre, Kingston, 24 – 28 May. www.northern-broadsides.co.uk

Brentwood Shakespeare Company. Directed by Glenda Abbott. Brentwood Theatre, 13-16 April (01277 200305). www.brentwood-theatre.org.

Shakespeare’s Globe Company. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole. Joshua McGuire (Hamlet). Strode Theatre, Street, 19 – 21 April (01458 442 846); Shakespeare’s Globe, London, 23 April - 9 July (020 7401 9919); Pavilion Gardens Buxton (adjacent to the Buxton Opera House), 4 – 5 August (0845 12 72190). [Small-scale tour - Part of the Word is God Theatre Season 2011]. www.shakespeares-globe.org

Stamford Shakespeare. Rutland Open Air Theatre in the grounds of Tolethorpe Hall, Little Casterton, 5 July – 27 August (01780 756133). www.stamfordshakespeare.co.uk.

Young Vic Company. Directed by Ian Rickson. Michael Sheen (Hamlet). Young Vic Theatre, London, 28 October - 21 January 2012 (020 7922 2922). www.youngvic.org