The National Theatre has broadcasted a series of spectacular plays in partnership with Amazon Prime while the (very long) hiatus from live performances in England is still in place. The broadcast includes the 2015 production of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the title role alongside an incredibly well-accomplished cast including Game of Thrones’ Ciaran Hinds, Snow White and the Huntsman’s Anastasia Hill and Father Ted’s Jim Norton.
Something incredibly prevalent throughout the piece is the physical depiction of grief, which is laid bare for the audience both from a directorial and performing standpoint. Directors Lyndsey Turner and Robin Lough intelligently aid Cumberbatch’s portrayal of a truly devastated and incredibly vulnerable Hamlet from the moment the play starts through the use of costume and set. A clear example of this is when the piece opens, a bereft Hamlet is shown listening to an old vinyl while packing up his deceased father’s belongings. Here, Cumberbatch illustrates a somewhat recognisable state of grief as he heartbreakingly sniffs his father’s jacket before wearing it to his mother’s wedding. This jacket goes on not only to represent the grief that drives Hamlet’s entire narrative, but is also used as a tool to visually isolate him from the rest of the cast and almost becomes an omen for his own inevitable end.
The use of the infamous phone-box red soldier outfit also helps portray just how far down the rabbit hole of grief and revenge Hamlet truly is and contributes to a large sense of dramatic irony which is laced throughout the piece from start to finish; the more energetic and (in essence) childish Cumberbatch becomes in his physicality, for example pretending to be a soldier running around a play castle, the more Hamlet is emotionally deteriorating. This is supported through Cumberbatch’s soliloquy-style confessionals whereby he truthfully (and often tearfully) reveals his feelings to the audience.
Jim Norton, who plays Polonius, becomes the light relief of the performance, his quick-paced patter brings a well needed pit-stop amidst the darker scenes, although it must not go unnoticed that despite his fun, over-worded interjections, Polonius is, along with the other male characters, responsible for Ophelia’s downfall and untimely death.
Another device used by Turner and Lough is the piano, which is specifically used to convey Ophelia’s narrative and provides a distressing accompaniment to her rapid decline in mental health. Ophelia, played by actress Sian Brooke, perfectly depicts the two sides of the character: a cheeky but ultimately obedient daughter of Polonius at the beginning of the piece versus a broken, unstable and suicidal woman at the end. The piano is first used in a tender moment between Ophelia and her brother Laertes whereby they both play the instrument together, thus displaying a heart-warmingly affectionate relationship between the two siblings. This is juxtaposed with the final time we see the piano used by Laertes and Ophelia, who, by this time in the play, is on the brink of her eventual suicide. She begs Laertes to play the piano for her as he did before and the comfort it brings Ophelia is devastatingly well captured by Brooke and incredibly emotional to witness for an audience.
Ultimately, some may criticise this production for being too overt—much like Hamlet himself, but what is so fantastic is that this production makes Shakespeare understandable to any audience. The actors breathe life and dynamics into the words as though it were modern-day English, and paired with strong images and devices from the directors it makes for a truly heart-breaking production.
Hamlet is available to watch as part of the Great British Theatre Series 1 on Amazon Prime Video.
Words by Isabelle Casey.
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