Shakespeare Magazine 14
Hamlet is the theme of Shakespeare Magazine Issue 14, with each and every article devoted to the fictional Prince of Denmark and the play that bears his name. Rhodri Lewis asks “How Old is Hamlet?” while Samira Ahmed wonders “Why do Women Love Hamlet?” and we review recent productions of the play starring Tom Hiddleston and Andrew Scott. There's a set report from the making of Daisy Ridley's Ophelia movie and a visit to Hamlet's historic home, Kronborg Castle. We also delve deep into the Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive's Hamlet collection, while Gyles Brandreth tells us about his family production of the play, and Alice Barclay recounts how she taught a group of amateur actors to become Hamlet.
Hamlet is the theme of Shakespeare Magazine Issue 14, with each and every article devoted to the fictional Prince of Denmark and the play that bears his name. Rhodri Lewis asks “How Old is Hamlet?” while Samira Ahmed wonders “Why do Women Love Hamlet?” and we review recent productions of the play starring Tom Hiddleston and Andrew Scott. There's a set report from the making of Daisy Ridley's Ophelia movie and a visit to Hamlet's historic home, Kronborg Castle. We also delve deep into the Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive's Hamlet collection, while Gyles Brandreth tells us about his family production of the play, and Alice Barclay recounts how she taught a group of amateur actors to become Hamlet.
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Tom Hiddleston<br />
“Hamlet’s alienation and sense of betrayal over his<br />
mother’s remarriage was frighteningly visceral”<br />
Above: The Ghost of Hamlet’s father, King<br />
Hamlet (Ansu Kabia).<br />
Right: Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude<br />
(Lolita Chakrabarti).<br />
The threat of military conquest by Norway always<br />
hung in the foreground, but more than anything<br />
this Hamlet was about bereavement and family<br />
breakdown – the torment caused by our relatives<br />
moving on, even if we can’t, and robbing us of<br />
any space to heal. Proof, as though it were needed,<br />
that <strong>Shakespeare</strong> speaks to us for the moment we<br />
find ourselves in. Few plays have left me waking<br />
up sobbing the next day, but the rage, remorse and<br />
anguish on display still resonated, to the refrain<br />
throughout of “Go to thy deathbed...”<br />
Yet on the night, for those in attendance it was<br />
three hours of uncomplicated happiness. Watching<br />
Hiddleston seamlessly recite ‘To be, or not to be’<br />
right in front of me was enough to make me feel<br />
thankful for my pulse. As much as I loved Benedict<br />
Cumberbatch’s 2015 turn at the Barbican, it<br />
couldn’t rival RADA’s Hamlet for intimacy and<br />
intensity of craftsmanship.<br />
<br />
This performance of Hamlet took place<br />
on 20 September 2017 at the Jerwood<br />
Vanbrugh Theatre, London<br />
18 shakespeare magazine
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