Shakespeare Live - William Shakespeare's HAMLET
from Tues 5th - Sat 9th July 2011
Lackham House Lacock SN15 2NY
In recent years there have been madder Hamlets (Mark Rylance), wittier Hamlets (David Tennant), more desperate Hamlets (Ben Whishaw), and more spiritual Hamlets (Simon Russell Beale).
But Matt Nation, who confesses to moments of physical and emotional exhaustion playing the role of Hamlet during rehearsals, joins the modern pantheon of spellbinding sweet princes with a performance of raw vulnerability and emotional openness.
Looking younger than his 38 years, he is a modern student prince, dressed in black, often kneeling, crawling, lying prostate on the lawn or sitting on the ground with dark sock on his hand muttering to himself.
From the opening soliloquy he gives the impression of a young man floored by grief and confusion. Like most depressives, he yearns only for oblivion. And then his father's ghost tells him that he has to act, rather than wallow in misery, and the strain often becomes intolerable.
Nation's boyish Hamlet is often on the brink of tears, but there is also no mistaking the intelligence of his mind or the nobility of his heart as he confides in the audience in soliloquies that allow us to follow every fleeting thought, every quicksilver change of mood.
In the closet scene, when he confronts Gertrude with her sins, the Oedipal anguish between mother and son is almost too raw as he stands astride her and with venomous spittle, decries her sexual shame.
Yet in the great last act, Nation's Hamlet seems transformed as the turmoil in his mind is replaced by acceptance and a deeply moving sense of spiritual serenity. There are moments when he seems to be skating on the surface of the role rather than digging deep, but this is already a deeply moving, wittily spoken Hamlet in command of the liquid tomes flowing from his lucid tongue.
This Shakespeare Live production is set outdoors (a production challenge if ever there was one) and yet Director Rod Moor-Bardell's gripping, accessible production strikes me as the ideal introduction to Shakespeares greatest of all plays.
Moor-Bardell and Graham Paton (Assistant Director) seize on the fact that Hamlet is an absolutely cracking psychological thriller, and his First World War staging, set in the gardens of Lackham House give it a period feel which is comfortable viewing yet an intense gripping portrayal of a man obsessed with his own demons.
Graham Paton gives a thrilling masterclass in Shakespearean verse-speaking as the Ghost of King Hamlet. Paul Batson captures both the humour and the mealy mouthed spirit of Polonius, Jude Bucklow movingly captures the wracked anguish of Gertrude and Alexandra Evans is simply the sweetest, prettiest maddest most pitifully vulnerable Ophelia I've seen in a long while. The Grave Diggers scene brought some black comedy relief from Jeremy Reece and Colin Jackson.
This entertaining production was a delight to watch in a setting taking you into another world. We came away with smiles on our faces and plenty to talk about. Where do Shakespeare Live go next time? Its their 22nd Year in existence raising money for charity as well as raising spirits of its local community.It does beg the question... to be or not to be...
DeafboyOne
Venue Magazine
http://deafboyone.blogspot.com/2011/07/matt-nation-hamlet-and-lackham-house.html
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Matt Nation - Hamlet - New Star - New horizons...?
Shakespeare Live - William Shakespeare's HAMLET from Tues 5th - Sat 9th July 2011 Lackham House Lacock SN15 2NY
In recent years there have been madder Hamlets (Mark Rylance), wittier Hamlets (David Tennant), more desperate Hamlets (Ben Whishaw), and more spiritual Hamlets (Simon Russell Beale).
But Matt Nation, who confesses to moments of physical and emotional exhaustion playing the role of Hamlet during rehearsals, joins the modern pantheon of spellbinding sweet princes with a performance of raw vulnerability and emotional openness.
Looking younger than his 38 years, he is a modern student prince, dressed in black, often kneeling, crawling, lying prostate on the lawn or sitting on the ground with dark sock on his hand muttering to himself.
From the opening soliloquy he gives the impression of a young man floored by grief and confusion. Like most depressives, he yearns only for oblivion. And then his father's ghost tells him that he has to act, rather than wallow in misery, and the strain often becomes intolerable.
Nation's boyish Hamlet is often on the brink of tears, but there is also no mistaking the intelligence of his mind or the nobility of his heart as he confides in the audience in soliloquies that allow us to follow every fleeting thought, every quicksilver change of mood.
In the closet scene, when he confronts Gertrude with her sins, the Oedipal anguish between mother and son is almost too raw as he stands astride her and with venomous spittle, decries her sexual shame. Yet in the great last act, Nation's Hamlet seems transformed as the turmoil in his mind is replaced by acceptance and a deeply moving sense of spiritual serenity. There are moments when he seems to be skating on the surface of the role rather than digging deep, but this is already a deeply moving, wittily spoken Hamlet in command of the liquid tomes flowing from his lucid tongue.
This Shakespeare Live production is set outdoors (a production challenge if ever there was one) and yet Director Rod Moor-Bardell's gripping, accessible production strikes me as the ideal introduction to Shakespeares greatest of all plays. Moor-Bardell and Graham Paton (Assistant Director) seize on the fact that Hamlet is an absolutely cracking psychological thriller, and his First World War staging, set in the gardens of Lackham House give it a period feel which is comfortable viewing yet an intense gripping portrayal of a man obsessed with his own demons.
Graham Paton gives a thrilling masterclass in Shakespearean verse-speaking as the Ghost of King Hamlet. Paul Batson captures both the humour and the mealy mouthed spirit of Polonius, Jude Bucklow movingly captures the wracked anguish of Gertrude and Alexandra Evans is simply the sweetest, prettiest maddest most pitifully vulnerable Ophelia I've seen in a long while. The Grave Diggers scene brought some black comedy relief from Jeremy Reece and Colin Jackson.
This entertaining production was a delight to watch in a setting taking you into another world. We came away with smiles on our faces and plenty to talk about. Where do Shakespeare Live go next time? Its their 22nd Year in existence raising money for charity as well as raising spirits of its local community.It does beg the question... to be or not to be...
DeafboyOne Venue Magazine
http://deafboyone.blogspot.com/2011/07/matt-nation-hamlet-and-lackham-house.html
Reply
FAB! Fringe Arts Bath
Bath's Annual Fringe Visual Arts Festival begins this year from Friday May 27 to Sunday June 12 2011 at the RNID Workshop (based at the bottom of the Wells Road next to Great Western Wine) Bath BA2 3AP. 10am until 4pm Monday to Friday. Come and see the exhibition at RNID’s workshop (Royal National Institute for the Deaf), created by Deaf adults whose work will be on display throughout the festival including weekends. Ffi 01225 339860 sms 07753580397 or email bathworkshop@rnid.org.uk
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