Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

After 14 months of waiting, the day finally came and we took our seats in the first of row of the Barbican Theatre. We are about to see Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet. Was it worth it, all that waiting, organising a London trip around the performance?

The short answer is: yes. The longer one: absolutely, no question about it, it was amazing! Firstly, it was great to hear Shakespeare’s original text spoken in a huge theatre like this (the theatre has 1156 seats). Cumberbatch has not disappointed. His performance was great, brought Hamlet’s character closer than any other performance. I have seen productions where Hamlet seems to be suffering a lot but who knows why, like a teenager who has the world’s agony on his shoulders and cannot cope with it. Cumberbatch’s Hamlet puts on a show for the others, showing the signs of madness but clearly working towards his goal: taking revenge for his father’s death. But this was not a one man show, the rest of the cast was excellent too. Anastasia Hille as Gertrude was very natural and the perfect queen, Ciarán Hinds as Claudius evil but charming, Siân Brooke as Ophelia precise and amazing. The set was magnificent, a real castle interior – there is the advantage of the English theatre culture when contrary to the Hungarian theatres, the set does not need to come down every evening (in Hungary, theatres play repertoires, alternating several different plays in a season). The stage changes as it should: after the wedding, the decorations are taken down, for the travelling actors a little stage is set up. For the second half, decay and mud is covering the stage, visualising the end of an era, the ruin of the royal family. There are some clever touches too: how Gertrude realises when Ophelia leaves behind her camera that she is saying goodbye to life. How when one of the characters starts talking fast to Hamlet he answers with an even faster speech (of course, who could talk faster than Sherlock?). 

The performance was recorded the day before we have arrived and the recording shown in some cinemas in the UK. I am sure that the producers are fully aware of the (commercial and artistic) value of this show and just like the London National Theatre screens its shows all over the world in the NTLive series, Hamlet will be shown in cinemas all across the world. When this happens, don’t miss it.