Hamlet, Jan 4, 2020 ***1/2

THEATRE 

By William Shakespeare, Australian Shakespeare Company 

At Botanical Gardens, Southern Cross Lawn, until Jan 31, 2020 

Reviewer: Kate Herbert  

Stars: ***1/2
Review also published in Herald Sun in print (not online) on Wed Jan 8, 2020. KH

Hamlet - Andre de Vanny-Photo by Nicole Cleary

While Hamlet is not the usual cheery, Shakespearean comedy-romance in the Gardens, here’s your opportunity to catch one of Shakespeare’s most famous and much-quoted tragedies – all while sipping wine and snacking under the stars.

Hamlet has all the human drama of a high-end soap opera: beloved father dies; traumatised son grieves; mother marries uncle much too quickly; son suspects foul play, feigns madness and alienates loved ones; chaos and tragedy ensue.

There is a ghost, a fool, an acting troop, a spurned lover, a suicide, sword fighting, poisonings and a final scene littered with bodies.

The moonlit, natural environment heightens the thrilling, relentless path to tragedy and intensifies Shakespeare’s superb poetic language.

Although the acting is uneven across the cast, Glenn Elston’s production is dynamic and deftly directed, with several standout performances.

Andre de Vanny’s Hamlet is a boyish, mercurial, energetic and brooding prince, and he makes sense of Hamlet’s many long, philosophical monologues as the character negotiates his rocky path from bereaved son to avenger of his father’s murder.

Brian Lipson’s old Polonius is daffy but believable, and his performance is delicately nuanced and a delight to behold, with his every verbose speech being delivered with clarity and intense joy. It is a lesson in performing Shakespeare.

As Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, Alison Whyte shifts effortlessly and credibly from stately matriarch to grief-stricken queen, while Dion Mills plays the Ghost of Hamlet’s father with quiet dignity, and Matthew Connell’s Horatio is composed and understated.

Hamlet - ASC - Alison Whyte and Dion Mills, Photo by Nicole Cleary

Emily Goddard’s Ophelia is feisty but lacking subtlety, Andrew Coshan looks uncomfortable as Laertes, while Mark Wilson understudies the role of Claudius until further notice (Greg Stone in unable to perform the role due to illness).

Despite some shortcomings, Elston’s production brings clarity to Shakespeare’s language and characters, providing a rare opportunity for those unfamiliar with the Bard to immerse themselves in the world of Hamlet without the strictures of a traditional theatre.

by Kate Herbert