Hamlet - Review

*****

Ian McKellen

Directed by Sean Mathias

Written by William Shakespeare

117 minutes

It was a bold move in 2021 for Sean Mathias to cast Ian McKellen as Hamlet in his production at Windsor’s Theatre Royal. Traditionally the role is played by a much younger man who needs to be a credible university student as well as one whose mother is still of an attractive re-marriageable age, and desirable to her former brother-in-law. In this iteration however McKellen was the oldest actor on the stage, boldly defying convention. The production attracted mixed reviews at the time, however it led to McKellen returning to the role at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 - in a completely separate dance-based production - and subsequently to the Bill Kenwright Company releasing Mathias’ work as a fully storyboarded full blown feature film.

 

This filmed take on Hamlet proves to be an inspirational revelation. Filmed in and around the Windsor theatre, Mathias has set the play across the stage, backstage and front-of-house areas of the venue, giving a meticulously re-imagined interpretation of the story.

Film and theatre are profoundly different media. The live performance demands our attention on a scene or tableau, possibly quite diverse in its panorama, and often far away from where the audience is seated. Cinema however, as Norma Desmond made clear in Sunset Boulevard, is all about the close-up. And Ian Mckellen as Hamlet, in close-up, is quite simply a masterclass. Few living actors have a mastery of Shakespeare’s verse that can match McKellen. His delivery of the prose, both the famously quotable stuff as well as the lesser-known lines is exquisite and even those familiar with the text will find new revelations in the story through McKellen’s delivery.

A decent production of Hamlet demands a cracking supporting cast and Mathias has rounded up most of his 2021 company to accompany Sir Ian. Jonathan Hyde is a suitably evil Claudius with Jenny Seagrove stepping up to the role of Gertrude. It is in the Gertrude/Hamlet interactions - notably Act 3’s closet scene - that the age-neutral casting is most put to the test, but Seagrove pulls it off and if her death a couple of acts later is perhaps a little hammed up, the pathos with which she describes Ophelia’s death, is exquisite.

Ian McKellen and Jenny Seagrove

Emmanuella Cole is a well cast gender-swapped Laertes, with Ben Allen also putting in a finely sympathetic shift as Horatio. Equally, Steven Berkoff’s Polonius is perfection in pomposity and Frances Barber delights as the First Player.

Amongst the supporting roles however it is Alis Wyn Davies who shines out as Ophelia. Frailty may very well be her name such is the carefully crafted fragility that defines her performance, with Davies bringing a light to the fair Ophelia that is rarely seen. Hers is a  gorgeous performance, which when her voice is married to Adam Cork’s music in her tragic mad scene, is lifted even higher.

 

Squeezing in at just under 2 hours, Mathias has trimmed the text with wisdom and sensitivity. Set in contemporary dress in a dystopian locked-down world, this is very much a Hamlet for the 21st Century with Lee Newby’s design work sitting well in the compressed settings of the Edwardian-age theatre. Neil Oseman’s photography is similarly ingenious, adding a profound depth to the story's imagery.

In cinemas for one night only on February 27th and while there will of course be future online streaming, if you are able to catch this on the big screen, just go!

Ian McKellen’s Hamlet is a must-see. His take on those famous speeches, in close-up, is unsurpassed. The rest is silence.

For a full listing of screenings click here

Ian McKellen

Lunch and The Bow Of Ulysses - Review

Trafalgar Studios, London

*****

Written by Steven Berkoff

Directed by Nigel Harman

Shaun Dooley and Emily Bruni

In a powerfully devastating and unrelentingly humorous look at the dark and unspoken truths manifest in the psyches of men and women after decades spent together in a relationship, the double header of Steven Berkoff’s Lunch and The Bow of Ulysses at Trafalgar Studios is gripping theatre that will possibly provide less than comfortable cab rides home for some of the couples in the audience.

Starting with Lunch, the audience is introduced to the plays’ only characters played by Emily Bruni and Shaun Dooley, on a beach (outstandingly minimalist and effective set design from Lee Newby) and portrays the raw passion, emotion, insecurities and yearning that comes during those first moments of courtship - that first night, week, month are frequently referenced - between two eventual life partners. Bruni and Dooley create a stand out chemistry that offers a profound fluidity to the show.

Fast forwarding from that initial encounter on the beach, the audience are presented with their second course, the Bowl of Ulysses. Transported through the rabbit hole of reality, mundanity and time itself the two characters are 20 years older, with Nigel Harman coaxing a harrowing contrast in tone, performance, humour and light heartedness.

It is undeniable how time and life has transformed the pair, but without special effects (or even makeup), just a change of coat and a tying up of the hair, the deliverance of this clear passing of time by just their stage presence is a credit to the performers.

Berkoff is clearly an equal opportunities writer as he points out the numerous and apparent flaws of both sexes. We see his characters launch consecutively devastating attacks on each other in the form of mini monologues with cross hairs aimed solely at the inadequacies of the other, each more brutal and razor sharp than the last.

Ringing throughout the evening is a scorching reality in both script and performance. The production acts as one giant mirror, compelling the audience to look in horror yet all the while wearing smile as they enjoy the and enjoying the show’s potent dark flavours.

To call the plays uncompromising in their articulation of people’s need for companionship and all the wonderful and stark flaws of our species would be an understatement. Whether you walk away from this play electrified or shaken, there is an undeniable honesty in Berkoff’s masterpiece.

Runs until 5th November

Reviewed by Josh Kemp

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

North v South - Review

Certificate 18


****

Written and directed by Steven Nesbit

Freema Agyeman

North v South from Steven Nesbit is a British gangster movie that combines a sharp and witty script with some beautifully conceived violence, all performed by a cast that is to die for.

As John Claridge and Vic Clarke, crime bosses of England’s rival North and South regions meet to hammer out a partnership, Gary a psychopathic lieutenant from the South, kills the wrong man (who’s dressed up as a clown, don’t ask) and from then on it’s all, brutally, downhill. 

Both sides have traitors in the camp and for the most part Nesbit keeps the tale-telling tight. The story wobbles with a slightly implausible Romeo and Juliet theme  that centres around a smouldering Charlotte Hope, but overall the tale combines wit and grit in equal part. 

Much of the pleasure of North v South comes from its awesome line-up. Steven Berkoff’s Clarke proves once again that no-one does a bigger, better or balder Cockney bastard than this roughest of East End diamonds. That Keith Allen is his henchman only adds weight to the film’s sassy dialog, whilst Brad Moore as the treacherous Gary sets himself up for one of the most spectacular deaths in recent British cinema.

The Northerners are led by another screen giant, the weathered and wily Bernard Hill. Mixing menace with charm, Hill’s firm includes a shrewd Oliver Cotton as the brains behind the muscle, along with an ingenious casting choice that sees Freema Agyeman leap from some sensational TV performances to date, to play Penny, a sassy, educated and  multi lingual thug, as violent as she is stylish.

There is a sensational cameo from Dom Monot as transvestite assassin Gustave, whilst a novel touch sees an impressive performance from young Sydney Wade as Sam. Witnessing her clown-dad’s murder early on, her subsequent childish fumbling as she learns her way around a hi-velocity rifle gives rise to an on-screen killing that is as hilarious as it is brutal and with just a hint of Tarantino too. 

Beautifully photographed by Kyle Heslop, Neil Athale’s music also adds a dimension.

North v South is brutal, bloody and brilliant. One of the year’s classier Brit-flicks. 

Steven Berkoff and Charlotte Hope

In cinemas nationwide