THEATRE REVIEW: Hamlet
- Posted on April 17, 2008 10:28 AM
- 0 comments
Hamlet
Tobacco Factory Bristol
Until May 3rd
Review by Sophie Pollard
Jonathon Miller guest directs the first production of Hamlet by the Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory (SATTF) company this month in Bristol. Miller’s vision of the quintessential revenge tragedy remains true to the text with an abundance of intrigue, death and madness.
In the Tobacco Factory’s intimate setting, Miller deliberately avoids a modern set design for this production, instead opting for only three pugh’s at the stage centre. This gives the audience (and actors) little chance for their concentration to slip during the shows four hour run, allowing attention to focus on the rich poetic language that is beautifully delivered.
As with all revenge tragedies, the drama resides with the social and personal anxiety of the protagonist. Jamie Ballard as Hamlet gives a masterful performance, and delivers each soliloquy with fresh emotional gusto. He successfully engages with a plethora of emotions from grief, which later turns to vengeance and Ballard’s own touch of a sarcastic, maddening humour.
Familiar SATTF faces grace the stage, Andrew Hilton plays the ghost of Hamlet’s father, a role which he last played under Miller’s direction in 1970. A notable mention goes to Annabel Scholey as Orphelia, whose descent into madness from sexual repression, climaxes in a frightening scene mimicking the ‘Other’ of colonial identity.
Related links:
Tobacco Factory.
Theatre tickets on Seatwave.
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