Secret Theatre's Hamlet. To see or not to see? Sadly not.

By E.L. Hardy

C too, a large thrust venue - albeit with obscuring pillars - is home this year to the Secret Theatre's Hamlet set in (and I quote) "the swinging 60s." It sounds like it could be a fun production. A revolutionary interpretation. And yet, it is neither. It does not follow through. This is ninety minutes of bastardised, lumpy Shakespeare delivered with inconsistent levels of purpose and energy.

Director Brooke Johnston's ideas surface like unwanted alien invasions that tear from the truth and the story. They don't do the otherwise strong actors any favours either. It takes more than an incongruous sparkly shirt and a sporadic pair of dangly earrings to change and cement a play's context and setting. Rosencrantz and Guildernstein are played by women - swaggering, licentious women- who taint Hamlet's morals and distract from his noble intentions. None of it is funny or entertaining - just strange and ill placed - like a clown at a wake.

The play starts well, with strong performances from Denis Delahunt (Polonius), Raphael Verrion (Hamlet) and Gethin Alderman (Horatio). However, stodgy unimaginative scene changes and sparse use of music makes for a distinct lack of atmosphere.

This is a muddled and dull production which belittles an mostly talented cast, unjustly served.

PS in short:

This production suffers from not quite knowing what it is. Hardworking but mightily challenged cast suffer from directorial delusion.

★★

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