Hamlet

Peter Evans has taken a very novel approach to this great tragedy. He has looked beyond gender and race for a great deal of the casting, including the choice of Harriet Gordon-Anderson as Hamlet. These choices are never justified or explained, and this is part of a much more progressive agenda that exudes in this production. Gordon-Anderson creates an impish yet intensely serious Hamlet who is ruthlessly able to unravel the royal Danish family who inhabit Elsinore castle. Her performance is managed in a deliberate and masterful manner. It undoubtedly drives the success of this production.

The unconventional set design suggests shades of Nordic noir and the décor has echoes of Mad Men (TV series 2007-2015). A perfect setting for the drama, intrigue and scheming that brings down Hamlet’s entire world. This setting makes Gordon-Anderson an especially appropriate choice as her charming and unthreatening demeanour does not herald the contemptuous mocking that often characterises Hamlet’s accusations. This gives Hamlet quite disarming power, in keeping with the icy and cool ambience that has been wonderfully invoked.

This approach is not always so cohesively applied across the performances and the decay and decline in interpersonal relations is also never expressed through the pristine nature of the set and costumes. Polonius (Robert Menzies) is played as dithering and subservient and well in keeping with a more traditional approach to the text. The performances of Gertrude (Lucy Bell) and Claudius (Ray Chong Nee) are equally strong yet, except for their costuming, less tied to the nature of the setting. Rosencrantz (Jeremi Campese) and Guildenstern (Jane Mahady) are also cast against expectations and echo the slickness of the environment driven by Gordon-Anderson’s Hamlet. This provides a great deal of comic relief but with a tone that contrasts with the amusement provided by Menzies.

This difference in register of the performances sometimes results in a lack of connection between the characters. For example, the romance between Hamlet and Ophelia (Rose Riley) never really sparks. Riley produces an exceptional descent into madness, and this becomes her main opportunity to shine. The way the characters physically interact overall is not always as smooth as the setting or the performances and there are some questionable staging choices for some key lines. 

The staging of the culmination of the play is much more adept. The use of fencing for the final confrontation is ingenious. The action-oriented choreography is truly nail biting and summons all the underlying subterfuge of the text. The scenes are not only exciting, they are visually stunning. The carnage is palpable yet blends into the aesthetics of the production design beautifully.

This is an innovative production that offers a very fresh look at Hamlet in terms of the character and the text, and it deploys its stylisation in a manner which easily entices the audience. 

Patricia Di Risio

Photographer: Brett Boardman