O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing,
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to her,
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have?
-Hamlet, Act II scene 2
I am a lucky girl indeed. On Saturday I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to the latest Broadway production of Hamlet, starring Jude Law. Before I get down to the particulars of my impressions, a little background.
On Hamlet: I read Hamlet my junior year of high school, for fun (I think we've established that that's how I roll). I remember it quite specifically because I tried to base an essay on it before having finished reading. Needless to say, my interpretation was slightly...off. The only film adaptation I'm sure I've seen in its entirety is the Ethan Hawke one, though I've seen substantial parts of both the Kenneth Branagh and Mel Gibson versions. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Canadian tv show Slings & Arrows*, the first season of which revolves around a production of Hamlet. I'd never seen Hamlet, or indeed any other Shakespearean play, on stage prior to Saturday. It is my favorite of his plays.
On Jude Law: I discovered Jude Law about the same time I discovered Hamlet, to the best of my recollection. It may not surprise you that the same girl who was reading Hamlet for fun would also come away from Blockbuster having rented Wilde, a biopic of author and legendary wit Oscar Wilde. Jude Law costarred as Wilde's petulant young lover, Bosie. He made enough of an impression that I remembered him when renting Gattaca, in which he most ably broke my heart. By the time The Talented Mr. Ripley was released, my admiration of him was well known among my friends. My affections cooled as his tabloid image overtook his work, although I continued to see many of his films. Yes, I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. In the theater. What of it?
To make a long story short, I am far from being unbiased.
I loved it.
Where to begin? At the beginning, perhaps, when, prior to the start proper of the play, Hamlet emerges for a moment, broods, and retreats back into the wings. I was already drawn in by the time the soldiers emerged and hunkered down to wait for the ghost. How can you resist a play with a ghost? I mean, really.
Ghost aside, it's really amazing how alive this play feels. It was written over 400 years ago, and has been adapted innumerable times. How many Hamlets have there been? I think in watching it, I was keenly aware of how many choices had been made, from direction to acting to scenery, costume, and lighting. Shakespeare gives one a lot of leeway, in terms of stage directions.
The lighting, to pick one of many options. Amazing. I mean, I'm going to be honest, lighting isn't usually the first thing I notice. I couldn't help but observe, though, the way the light streamed across the stage sometimes, like sunlight. Or how a cooler light made Hamlet look quite pale as he drew his last breaths in the final act. I also loved the wintry gray and blue palette of the wardrobe. And the set - wow. Majestic. The space was used in very inventive ways - particularly the one large door upstage, which could be opened to reveal greater depth - allowing, among other things, the beautiful, snowy (yes, snowy) "To be or not to be" soliloquy (You can see the snow in the photo above, in which Hamlet is trying to educate Ophelia on nunneries, and especially on the virtues of getting to them). I also thought the reversal of expectations during the closet scene (putting the eavesdropping Polonius downstage, thus having the audience share his view of Gertrude and Hamlet behind a gauzy curtain) was inspired.
Onto the actors! Aside from Jude (yes, we're on a first name basis), the cast is largely unknown to an American audience. However, cross-referencing my Playbill and IMDb, I discovered that I'd seen quite a few of them before on British tv: the cast features of alums of Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, and even Lost in Austen (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays Ophelia, was Amanda Price's roommate). I thought the cast was solid overall, with Ron Cook (Polonius) as a particular standout. Reading a few British reviews, I noticed there was some criticism that Claudius (Kevin R. McNally) was not menacing enough - and indeed I didn't find him particularly menacing, but I thought his choices were valid. I think I would need to see another adaptation to make a better assessment.
Last, but not least, the melancholy Dane himself. What a task an actor tackling Hamlet faces. I can't even imagine memorizing the lines, much less imbuing them with emotion - especially given the rigorous demands of this play. Jude Law does an amazing job. He's really quite dazzling. He provoked the audience to laughter many times - scuttling like a crab, to name one memorable example. I wouldn't have thought that I would laugh so many times during one of the great tragedies.
Then there are those other moments, when he is overcome with grief and flirting with self-slaughter, as he calls it in the first act. I chose the quotation from Act II, in which Hamlet is reflecting on the speech of one of the players, quite purposefully - Jude does that "broken voice" beautifully. His voice is often thick with emotion, perhaps at no point more notably than when the ghost appears in the closet scene (shortly after he has killed Polonius). There is a moment in which his mother, who cannot see the ghost, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with him. This vision of his parents reunited, one living and one dead, completely overwhelms Hamlet. It's really quite stunning.
An additional note: I swear that, during the "To be or not to be" speech, I couldn't hear the second "to be." I have to assume I misheard, although I thought I was listening quite keenly. None of the (British) reviews have mentioned a revision, and surely someone would make note of a revision like that (American reviews will be out later this week, I assume, as the play officially opens on the 6th). It made an impression, though, however erroneously formed on my part. There is a fantastic video that shows quite a few snippets of the play as well as interviews with Jude and director Michael Grandage. His phrasing in the "To be or not to be" there is totally different from how I recall it. (I heard "To be...or...not.") Bizarre, I know.
I'm not going to lie, I'd love to go again, and to hear that speech another time is just a small part of it. The applause when the curtain fell was thunderous and the ovation was immediate, so clearly I was not alone in my appreciation. On my way out, I heard a couple of women complain about the blocking - not in my wheelhouse at all, but if that's something you're aware of, I suppose there could be objections of some sort? It didn't mar my experience, to be sure. I am terribly curious to read the New York reviews. Amazingly, this is perhaps the most timely post I have ever written; to actually review something at the same time it is being professionally reviewed. I assume the professionals will have a slightly more balanced ratio of erudite criticism to gushing about Jude Law. I hope there's a little gushing, though. If the man hasn't earned a Tony nomination, then clearly I lack all capacity to evaluate theater. Which may be. Ha.
One last thought: David Tennant (of Doctor Who fame) also played Hamlet quite recently, in a production that featured Patrick Stewart as Claudius. Thankfully someone at the BBC had the presence of mind to film it, and it will be aired on PBS this coming spring. I think David Tennant is just as talented as Jude, but they are very different actors, and I'm keen to see his interpretation.
*I would be terribly remiss if my post did not contain a link to the first season's theme song, "Cheer Up, Hamlet."
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