Hamlet

The BBC's screen version of The Royal Shakespeare Company Production of Hamlet was amazing! Now I have nothing to compare it with as this is my first Hamlet date but I picked a good one. David Tennant has just that right about of madness that makes it work, he's funny and more importantly he draws you in so as you don't notice the 3 hour run time. He brings life to the screen which might be a little much for others. I did think at times that it seemed as if the Doctor was playing Hamlet; his madness and jumping about but its not. Although I take that for the Doctor, and other fans of Doctor Who probably will as well, really its all David Tennant. The screen performance comes from his energy that is apparent even in interviews. Although this was a screen version Tennant was made for the stage. I have never really been much of a fan of the theatre, as my interests lies more with film and television, so I never got why actors were thought more highly of if they did a play on Broadway. But watching Tennant's performance made me rethink my fandom. (Of course this is no doubt influenced by the fact that I recently saw Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing on stage) Even with the madness there were times where Tennant was completely calm like when he was giving the famous soliloquy. 

 

How to approach a scene and lines that everyone knows? I feel the hardest thing in watching scenes you know is believing the performance your watching without letting previous performances or knowledge of the lines to taint what you're viewing at the time. I know David Tennant plays the title character and everything but Patrick Stewart is just as good in this production. He plays an eerie ghost and a great villain. A long way from Captain Jean-Luc Picard or professor X I know him as. He had a great screen presence that commanded the space he was in. There was no doubt in my mind that he had killed his brother and wanted to kill Hamlet.

I liked the staging which was brilliant. The set with all its mirrors and reflecting surfaces was amazing. Some of it was a little too theatre based, lots of back and forth in the beginning that made things a bit dull. The great device they used was the handheld camera Hamlet spoke into and used during the play with the play. Since they had updated the play to a more contemporary setting it was a nice way for Hamlet to deliver his monologues and soliloquies in a believable fashion. The dark colors of the set, the starkness set the tone of the play quite well. I did have a problem with Tennant's hair at the very beginning when it was combed down because his head looks weirdly small but his crazy hair helps.