Hamlet - Review

National Theatre, London

****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Robert Hastie

Hiran Abeysekera

Robert Hastie’s take on Hamlet is an exciting night at the theatre. Set on Ben Stones’s bold palatial staging that makes full use of the Lyttleton Theatre’s towering flys, Hastie mines the humour in this most famous of Shakespeare’s tragedies, making the narrative refreshingly accessible while staying true (for the most part) to the original text.

Hiran Abeysekera plays the Prince of Denmark, with a delivery that’s confident and wisely nuanced. At times perhaps his speech is too fast with moments of the verse’s beauty sometimes garbled. But Abeysekera’s authenticity shines through and he can be rightly proud of his impish energetic Hamlet. The final act’s fencing bout (brilliantly fight designed by Kate Waters) against Tom Glenister’s Laertes is exhausting to watch - so heaven knows what a physical challenge it must be to Abeysekera. Great theatre though, with Hastie splashing lashings of stage blood whenever the story gets gory.

Francesca Mills as Ophelia is enchanting. At first a provocative coquette, her descent into madness makes for harrowing drama and genuine pathos. Alistair Petrie as Claudius brings a patrician wickedness to the role and if Hastie has made the role of one of the Bard’s most brutal baddies slightly too melodramatic, it only adds to the evening's murderous mayhem. Other class acts in the company include Geoffrey Streatfield’s prattling Polonius (who is also gifted a hilariously bloody demise in the Closet scene) and Ryan Ellsworth who takes on the honours of the Ghost, Player King and First Gravedigger magnificently. If there is one scene where Hastie’s editing has been too severe, it is in the cutting of the Ghost’s brief speech in the Closet scene. Those six lines add a particular heft to the narrative.

Richard Taylor’s music adds to the occasion, as Hastie’s Hamlet offers up a noble stab at this massive tale. An evening of classy classic drama that will be enjoyed by both Shakespearean cognoscenti and novices alike.

Runs until 22nd November

Photo credit: Sam Taylor

Bug - Review

Found 111, London


*****

Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by Simon Evans

James Norton and Kate Fleetwood

Tracy Letts’ Bug at the Found111 space is a pressure cooker of paranoid chaos, as fascinating as it is terrifying. It draws a thin line between reality and neurosis, trapping the audience in a claustrophobic motel room, which represents both a cosy haven and a nausea inducing prison. The nature of fear, reality and human companionship are all held literally under the microscope in a breathlessly disquieting evening. 

We find Kate Fleetwood’s damaged Agnes, perched in the doorframe of her room, a squalid sordid little shrine to loneliness (expertly dressed by designer Ben Stones). After her friend R.C (Daisy Lewis) introduces Agnes to Peter (James Norton), she becomes swept up in a world of paranoia, infestation and real danger, as she tries to come to terms with the loss of her son and her need for human connection. 

It’s a powerful piece of writing, driven with tight pacing. Letts tenderly leads us along the path of intrigue, building the suspense delicately until the pot boils over in the second act and Peter’s ravaged ‘hive’ mind is unleashed. Characters are at once broken and totally complete in their convictions, never truly allowing us to be certain of their intentions or indeed their validity. We feel Peter’s fears and can empathise with his concerns about unseen foes. “We’re never truly safe”, he says, wounded eyes etched with sincerity. It’s a statement that an audience of 2016, assaulted daily with terror attacks and body counts, can all too easily identify with. 

Letts’ characters are fantastically well drawn, but equally well skilled are the performances that give them life. Kate Fleetwood’s Agnes is a desperately tragic figure, in need of rescue but latching on to the wrong life raft. Fleetwood taps into the isolation and fragile terror that haunt Agnes and the guilt she feels having lost her son. Her strangled cries towards the end of the play, as she unravels the conspiracies of Peter’s mind betray a woman drowning in maternal guilt. 

Norton is sweetly sympathetic as Peter, expertly flitting between deluded kook and perceptive fundamentalist. He brings a child-like innocence to the role, stripping him of his more obvious physical sexual appeal and legitimising Agnes’ obsession with protecting him as the play unfolds. 

There’s also strong work from the supporting cast, particularly Alec Newman as Agnes’s abusive ex-husband. There is a real menace to his limited stage time, as he pulses with the constant possibility of violence. 

Director Simon Evans understands the environment of Found111 and willingly embraces the claustrophobia of the space. Brutally minimal staging draws the audience into the action, placing us in the motel room, fidgeting in our seats, wondering if the titular bugs are crawling around our feet. Lighting Designer Richard Howell and Sound Designer Edward Lewis combine to brilliant effect to create the disconnect between the calm banality of the outside world and the fevered panic of the Agnes and Peter’s existence. Lewis’ mechanical soundscapes feature noises that are reassuringly familiar: a car passing, an AC unit kicking in. However, in their incessant repetition throughout the piece they take on the menace and foreboding that inform Peter’s technophobia. 

Evans mentions in his programme notes that he ‘all-but threw’ Bug at Emily Dobbs when discussing his next play at Found111 and it’s not hard to understand his enthusiasm to see it staged. It’s a thrilling piece with universal themes that strike relevant chords for a modern audience and here is performed with real panache by a top-notch cast. You’d be as foolish as a fruit fly to miss it.

Runs until 7th May

Reviewed by: Will Clarkson

Photo credit: Simon Annand