Nottingham Theatre Royal – until Saturday 21 March 2026
Reviewed by Louise Ford
5*****
To sea or not to sea
It seems that the stars are aligned for last night’s performance, with the recent success at the various film awards for the film Hamnet. It always feels good to be ahead of the curve!
Hamlet is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s longest plays, last night’s offering was cut down to a modest 2 hours and 40 minutes, including the interval. So we had an early start and were out before 10.00pm.
It is also worth taking a moment to reflect on how can plays, stories and sonnets written over 400 years ago still be popular, performed,reinterpreted and resonate today? Whilst this review isn’t the place for an examination, and I’m certainly not qualified to attempt this, it has to be that the works cover a whole range of human emotions that resonate today.
Hamlet the play is believed to have been written towards the end of the 1500s,and is regarded as Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy.
So back to last night’s production ( directed by Rupert Goold) we are presented, as we enter the auditorium, with a dark stage, bare except for a coffin draped in a red flag with a white cross. The set is designed by Es Devlin. As the actors enter the stage the whole set is illuminated, lighting by Jack Knowles. We are surrounded by a moving backdrop of waves and the sea. The video design is by Akhila Krishnan. The sea is at times calm and gentle at others it is dark and menacing, as the story becomes more dangerous. Oh the perils of being out at sea!
The year is 1912 (I’m not quite sure why perhaps the sinking of the Titanic or the release of the first Shakespeare silent film Richard III) and the story unfolds over a 24 hour period, with the time counted down on digital clocks.
The action is on the whole set on the deck of the ship, although at times we are taken down into the cabins or the engine room. The set design is on the whole quite minimalistic with the sea taking centre stage. The stage is both slippery and unpredictable as befits a vessel and story charting stormy waters. At times it lurches and bucks and the whole cast are set scurrying from side to side.
As this production is by the RSC we are expecting quality acting and delivery,and we are not disappointed.
The titular role is played by Ralph Davis. He has a commanding stage presence and delivers all of the iconic speeches with humanity. His decent into madness (feigned or otherwise) is prolonged and his appearance becomes more dishevelled as the story progresses. His friend and confidant Horatio (Colin Ryan), brings an energy and lightness to the role. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, is played by Poppy Miller, she is not quite the ice queen but she has a coldness until she unravels in the second act. Hamlet’s stepfather, Claudius, is played with dignity and cunning by Raymond Coulthard. He really is quite ruthless but exudes a “silver fox” sexual allure.
Poor old Ophelia (Georgie-Mae Myers) the innocent victim of this play for the crown, is at times physically tossed around before she meets a sad end in the brink.
Everyone’s favourite double act Rozencrantz (Jamie Sayers) and Gildenstern (Julia Kass) are a likeable couple,with a touch of role reversal.
So in summary we have a tale of grief and sadness as well as political manoeuvrings and succession all delivered out at sea. And to butcher a well known phrase there is nothing rotten in the state of this production.