Review: HAMLET PECKHAM, CLF Theatre Bussey Building, February 8 2016

Gimmicks usually wind up in the "Good idea at the time" box, but they can work - and the three Hamlets (two female, one male) cast in Hamlet Peckham (continuing at the CLF Theatre until 27 February) marks a rare success. Director, Anthony Green, explains his series of Princes as "the problem, the plan and the solution" and I certainly found the physical transformation of Hamlet an aid to understanding his psychological journey from angry teen, to brooding powder keg to murderer. This is a fine production if you're new to Hamlet or, like me, never quite understood it (perhaps nobody does).

Most of the cast play multiple roles, but it never gets confusing, as minor changes to costume and voice are plenty to signal the character. Sharon Singh's first Hamlet is angry, bitchy (yes, descriptors like that come to mind more easily with a woman in the role - and it does fit) and drifting, before Max Calandrew resolves to make terrible revenge with the "To be or not to be" speech, leaving a lithe and mad Izabella Urbanowicz to wreak havoc in the court.

Pia Lanciotti also impresses as Gertrude, her scene with Hamlet given an extra layer of meaning for being played against a daughter rather than a son. Gil Sutherland has a lot of fun with a pompous Polonius and Pete Collis brings a smug satisfaction to Claudius and a menace to the Ghost. In a cast diverse in ages and nationalities, there are no weak links at all.

Though I still can't shake parallels between Hamlet's soliloquies and martyrdom videos from my mind, this is a highly enjoyable Hamlet, with good comic work from Eva Savage and a splendid sword fight to leaven the angst. The text is spoken well too, clearly and with enough care to bring out the verse underpinning all those famous lines. With little in the way of sets, the play is pared back to the acting and the words and - with extra spice from the three Hamlets - that's a thing enough for me!

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