Hamlets, a Young REP 18-25 Company production, was borne of a PhD research project. It is the creative investigation of the nexus of Shakespeare’s most famous play, of the Library of Birmingham building (opened April 2013) and its renowned Shakespeare Memorial Room. The fact that it was research is important to remember when seeing this piece; what could perhaps be seen as muddled or reaching is in fact searching. There is a long history of the Bard’s productions being adapted for each generation as time went on; there are new truths to be found, fresh reverberations sought.
The acting was solid across the board, although recognition of the male Hamlets certainly took longer than it did for the females. This distinction in performance should not be attributed to gender, though that may have played an unconscious part, but to talent. Hamlet the goth in particular started the show strongly.
The story is a literary classic, but the Company were finely attuned to that burden, in which many of the audience may “know the story” without knowing the story in its intricacies. I last studied the play in school. There were questionnaires before and after querying the audience’s relationships with the play. While the immersive experience perhaps made it less likely to come away knowing the ins-and-outs, its major plot points were scenes displayed for the group as a whole. There was clear intent in the Company’s balance of comprehension, surprise and innovation, though its lack of tight organisation occasionally meant a slackening in tension.
The older class of actors, from the Hotel Teatro Theatre Company, delivered fine performances, though special mention should be made of Queen Gertrude (Claire Worboys) and Horatio (Corey Campbell). The Closet scene between Gertrude and two Hamlets, in which Lord Polonius (Michael Barry) was killed, was the strongest of the night: innovative, dark and beautiful. Rosencrantz (Rebekka Ford) and Guildenstern (Felicity Harper) were spot on, and their enactment of 100 To Be Or Not To Be’s was the comedic highlight of the night.
The scene which had the greatest promise squandered was perhaps the one between Hamlet and his father’s ghost (Andrew Brownlie), where the audience tentatively followed the action into the cold night air. A microphone rendered the emotion quite robotic and there was a palpable lack of confidence in most of the Hamlets’ performances.
Overall, a bold and interesting production, variable in quality. More could have been made of the environment, though perhaps regulations meant the escalators had to continue running (drowning out speech) in The Mousetrap scene and all the many bright, bright lights had to be kept on throughout the play. ★★★☆☆ Will Amott 19/03/15
