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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Welcome <br />
Welcome<br />
Photo: David Hammonds<br />
to Issue <strong>14</strong> of <strong>Shakespeare</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
When I decided to devote an entire issue of <strong>Shakespeare</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
to Hamlet, I assumed it would be a relatively straightforward process.<br />
After all, lots of people have lots of interesting things to say about this<br />
play and this character – all I had to do was fling it on the page.<br />
What I didn’t bargain for, but which in retrospect seems all too<br />
obviously predictable – is that in the process I would become Hamlet.<br />
I hesitated, I prevaricated, I dithered. I underthought things that<br />
required a good deal of thinking, and I overthought things that<br />
didn’t require any thinking at all. I prepared reams of interview<br />
questions, and them scrapped them. I wrote thousands of words and<br />
then chucked them in the bin. I remembered things – like the time<br />
I wrote and acted in a Hamlet spoof at school, over 30 years ago, in<br />
part inspired by an edgy production of the play that wowed me at<br />
Southport Arts Centre. And then I realised that some of my memories<br />
were no longer trustworthy.<br />
I think perhaps my main point here is that we all think we know<br />
Hamlet like we know ourselves. But when we return to the text(s) there<br />
are always shocks, surprises and rude awakenings in store.<br />
And just like Hamlet, my dithering at last ended, I suddenly knew<br />
what had to be done, and the issue finally rocketed to its conclusion.<br />
It’s been an education, and the bodies that litter this particular stage<br />
are, thankfully, all metaphorical. Anyway, here it is.<br />
Thanks as ever, for your patience and support.<br />
Enjoy your magazine.<br />
Pat Reid, Founder & Editor<br />
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