| This is based on an e-mail dated
April 1, 2001 to my friend. Sam West's "Hamlet" was full of disappointments. It is directed by Steven Pimlott. So, it is the same combination as Richard II. Sam was fantastic but it was great pity that the production as a whole was not good at all. It was not Sam's fault. It is director's, other actors' and designer's faults. He was the most impressive Hamlet I have ever seen. I have seen 16 "Hamlets" (including films) in my life and he is the best. It seemed to me that his interpretation of Hamlet may be the closest to mine. :-) Sam played his Hamlet like a kaleidoscope. He managed to play the complex character of Hamlet in various ways and showed us the complexity of the character of Hamlet. He played also Hamlet in a lively and nicely-varied style. Sometimes he was very serious, melancholic, depressed, confused, witty, philosophical, cheerful, cute, loveable, mischievous, playful, suffering, naive, fragile, masculine, powerful, passionate, full of dignity, and noble. Quite a few actors just plays only some aspects of Hamlet. For instance, Sir Laurence Olivier played his Hamlet as a heroic and masculine prince who had an Oedipus complex. Or more recently, Simon Russell Beale was good at melancholy bit but he was not playful at all. On the other hand, I thought that Sam West intelligently played most of Hamlet's complex character and his psychological depths. It was astonishing to see that he managed to put all complex qualities of Hamlet into his Hamlet. I think that he understood human beings very well. Otherwise, he cannot act like that. His insight towards human beings must be really sharp and he should understand people very well. Now I really like Sam West. I loved his "Richard II" and I was amazed by his "Hamlet." He is now my favourite actor. David Troughton has been my favourite for a while. And now I believe that Sam must be my favourite. People who say that he is arrogant may have mistaken his pride as arrogance. He should have pride, if he is such a talented actor. Anyway, I thought he was fantastic on stage and he is very intelligent actor. Plus, his Hamlet was the closest to my Hamlet which I have been imagining in my heart. However, the production itself was not good at all. I think that it was the most pitiful thing. I hope they will improve. Otherwise, poor Sam! He is doing great job but others ruin his wonderful performance. They should not do that. But they did on the first night when I saw it. Alas! Other actors were quite bad. Apart of Sam, Horaito and Polonius, I did not like most of supporting actors, which was pretty unusual. I did not like Kerry Condon who played Ophelia. Her Ophelia was not interesting at all. She played Ophelia as just a young powerless girl. I also did not like Gertrude. She was not attractive enough to play the part of Gertrude and I believe that Gertrude is larger than life and should be very attractive, physically and her manners. Otherwise, it is not convincing that Cluadius was attracted by her that much. She was mediocre in her presence on the stage. She often just stood on the stage straight which was very boring. The actor who played Claudius was hopeless. He could not deliver lines properly! Yes, it was the first night but he mistook his lines four or five times and repeated himself. I was annoyed by his mistakes. Moreover, I think that Claudius should be more ambitious! He killed his brother and married his brother's wife. Therefore, he should be more fearful and powerful with his black ego and dark ambitions. But he seemed to me a just a weak king! That is hopeless for me. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were not good, either. I thought they should be playful as Hamlet because they were playmates of Hamlet who had a great fun with Hamlet in Wittenberg. They were supposed to be Hamlet's great playmates, were not they? I thought that Hamlet would never have chosen them as his buddies. They were too boring to be hamlet's great playmates. Horatio was all right. Polonius was good. The actor who played Polonius also played Gravedigger and he was funny. Plus, some directorial decisions annoyed me a lot. First of all, it was far too long. The only cut I have noticed was the scene where Horatio read Hamlet's letter. Apart from that, they used almost full text! That is a challenge and I appreciate their challenge. However, four hours and 15 minutes was too long and I could see that actors seemed to be tired a bit. Secondly, I thought that Sam was the only actor performed very well. So, if he was not on the stage, I was bored and read the pamphlet. That was a very bad sign for me. Thirdly, I thought that some scenes were very stupid and boring interpretations. Fourthly, they converted the theatre and added a walking path, like a Japanese Kabuki theatre. Yet, they did not take advantage of it. In Japanese Kabuki theatre, the walking path called "Hanamich" was used as if a close up in the film. Actors play important scenes as a focal scene because actors are closer to the audience!! But they only used it as another exit. I could not see the point in spending so much money, time and trouble in rearranging the auditorium just to make another exit. So, I hope they will cut the texts a little bit more. I also hope the quality of performances of other actors will improve during the previews. Otherwise, poor Sam! I really sympathise for him. The production will get poor reviews even though Sam is fantastic, because if I were a reviewer, I will give them a harsh review, apart from the brilliant performance of Sam. Anyway, I will go to see Sam again with a hope that they will improve by the press night. |
Recent updates in the Bard of Avon:Shakepeare in Stratford-upon-Avon
Recent Blog Posts (in Japanese)
Shakespeare Theatre reviews
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) News
Shakespeare / theatre Gossips etc
