BWW Reviews: HAMLET: 1603, The White Bear Theatre, May 5 2011

Bad Quarto? Bad? Man - it's sick!

Or so a middle-aged man might imagine the reaction of young people to Imogen Bond's stripped down, very modern Hamlet (Bad Quarto). Inexplicably unperformed in Britain these last ten years, this version of the text barely pauses for breath, replacing introspection with action, poignant poetry with punchy prose and Freudian faffing about with forthright fisticuffs. Most of the familiar setpieces and speeches are there, but not always spoken as expected and some of the names and characters are different too, but never mind all that, this version is about a man's righteous revenge. The effect is not unlike that of watching The Godfather for the second (or tenth) time. You know how it ends, but the fun is in the getting there, in seeing how the characters and story develop, in the thrill of the chase.

Jamie Matthewman's Hamlet has echoes of Al Pacino's Michael Corleone - he accepts murder, even collateral damage, as a price worth paying to follow the destiny set for him by his father. His treatment of Ofelia also echoes Michael's distancing of Kay and his casual dooming of Rossencraft and Gilderstone recalls Michael's despatching Fredo. In the small space with props pared back to a couple of benches and a few nasty looking knives, Hamlet's anger bubbles and bursts, wonderfully complemented by Robert Lonergan's smarmy King and Diana Katis' complacent Queen Gertred, too late in realising that Hamlet was serious rather than stressed.

I rather pity schoolkids having to battle through nearly four hours of the traditional Hamlet (much of it accounted for by Hamlet's umming and ahhing) but, coming in at a more user-friendly 120 minutes or so, the Bad Quarto is perfectly suited to introducing them (or anyome without a BA English) to the plot and main ideas of the longer version. It is to Vital Signs Theatre's credit that they are not only reviving this text, but playing straight into its strengths as a brutal story told through some of the most famous scenes and lines in the history of the English Stage. Like all the big action thrillers these days, it's in 3D - and you don't even need the silly glasses!

Hamlet: 1603 continues at The White Bear Theatre Kennington until 22 May.  

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