tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200658218238769688.post5585577400106071432..comments2024-01-20T16:46:43.636+11:00Comments on Kevin Jackson's Theatre Diary: HamletGeorge Khuthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10220918958933755405noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200658218238769688.post-990880177727470502012-06-26T20:30:47.937+10:002012-06-26T20:30:47.937+10:00…continued
What I miss from most Australian produ...…continued<br /><br />What I miss from most Australian productions of this and others of Shakespeare is the world of the play: the place of King, Prince, courtier, church, state. The play is called Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and should not be played round the kitchen table of the evening soap as if Hamlet, Neighbour. Of course the idea of kingship is at odds with our egalitarianism, but let us not bring him down to our size. The other thing I miss from most Australian productions is the speaking of the verse: not 'beautifully', as too many English actors do, merely making sounds, but both intelligently and intelligibly, on the one hand (as it was here, for the most part), and with an ear for its music and imagery, on the other (which, generally, as it was not). Shakespeare wrote prose when he wanted to (eg the speech to the players quoted in your review); his dramatic poetry is one of the flowers of our civilization. And it should seldom, if ever, be shouted; there is too much shouting in this production. Even on the opening night I feared that Mr Farris would lose his voice; I wonder how it is faring. He is certainly talented, but his voice needs training.<br /><br />So this production - deft, engrossing (its audience on the opening night, mainly schoolchildren in parties, a notoriously difficult audience to play, was gripped and wonderfully attentive during the almost-two uninterrupted hours of the traffic), inventive as I have said, of a professional standard, and enjoyable as far as it went - was a disappointment to me, a considerable disappointment. I understand that Mr Ryan has abandoned the security of school-teaching for a riskier life in the theatre (a shift I made myself in my mid-30s, so I have some sympathy for him). I hope he does not think that, because the young Turks, the self-regarding German Expressionists, are breathing down his neck, that he has to 'do <br />something' with a play, has to put his stamp on it. As I said in my Herald letter, his production of The Libertine - while both remaining faithful to and illuminating the text - had his stamp all over it. It may be that Shakespeare is not his forte: on this showing, decidedly not, though I expect the production will be generally admired - if not by you and me. I should add that I heard very good things of his schools production of Romeo and Juliet for Bell, which I unfortunately did not see.Terence Clarkenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200658218238769688.post-50007682830239097472012-06-26T20:30:09.053+10:002012-06-26T20:30:09.053+10:00I am in absolute agreement with you on this. I was...I am in absolute agreement with you on this. I was so impressed by Damien Ryan's production and direction of The Libertine last year that I wrote to the Herald, as its critic had failed to include it amongst the year's best, to say that it was the best production that I saw in 2011. A director needs to have command of the dramatic (in the text) as well as of the theatrical (in the production); Mr Ryan showed both - in spades, doubled - in that other production. But in this Hamlet he shows his interest in the theatrical, very much at the expense of the dramatic. It is an idiosyncratic cut: if you are going to cut almost half of the text, why include so much of the players and Hecuba? why? for the theatre of it, not its drama. And, though pleasingly inventive and enjoyable (as it often is not), it was a diversion.<br /><br />This is without doubt an accomplished production, perhaps over-directed as to detailed business where one would have liked him to attend to the text, the characterization, the life of the drama (Eric Bentley's excellent phrase), the concerns of the piece. This is the second production of Hamlet in two years that cuts scene I/i to 'Who's there?'. This is to suggest that Shakespeare did not know what he was about: you cut the first scene of any of his plays at the peril of the whole. And Hamlet's scene i must be ranked one of the greatest first scenes ever written: I don't know of a greater. If, as some have argued, the play is about identity, I cannot agree - or at least agree to the centrality of that concept; it is, after all, not Hamlet's query. And to end the play with the echoing of 'Who's there?', is to twist in a cheap and rather ugly way what we are to take from the play. It is a 'clever' touch that does Mr Ryan no credit.<br />continued…Terence Clarkenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200658218238769688.post-35067814585007128592012-06-25T22:19:48.394+10:002012-06-25T22:19:48.394+10:00Hi Guys,
I'm glad you found so much to enjoy i...Hi Guys,<br />I'm glad you found so much to enjoy in this show. I found it amazing, and was fortunate to hear Damien Ryan speak over the weekend where he put forward some ideas about the play you might be interested in.<br />He talked about the Player’s speeches as being part of the core of the play - the recurring theme of revenging sons who are forced to pause. Hamlet, famously takes his time to avenge his father, Laertes jumps enthusiastically to revenge but is manipulated by Claudius to pause, Fortinbras waits 30 years to extact his revenge and Pyrrus avenges his father’s death by slaughtering the King of Illium after a momentary pause as a the fall of Troy’s famed walls ‘takes prisoner’ his ear.<br />That Hamlet specifically asks for this speech is important in showing his need for a model in acting out his revenge however he is, as usual, somewhat distracted by his obsession with the women in his life and after the Pyrrus story he asks for a story about a wife who demonstrates great grief at the death of her husband. The connection to Gertrude is pretty clear.<br />As for the ‘Who’s there’ scene it is still there – it’s after the opening speech by Claudius [moved and given a ‘who’s there’ line of it’s own] – The scene, like the rest of the play is pretty heavily edited.<br />And Kevin, perhaps you may be pleased to know that I think the ‘noise’ you experienced at opening has been dealt with. At least that’s my assumption I can’t reconcile your description with my experience of the play. So I guess Mr Ryan agreed with you on that one.<br />I also thought there was more nuance in the lead performance than either of you seem to imply, I guess that’s a matter of taste, but as you both acknowledge, the show is primarily focused on young people and the response from the students all three of us saw was wrapped attention and enthusiasm for the experience.<br />PS Ophelia – blew my mind. I thought she was devastatingly powerful in her mad scenes.BaZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00587779148235932056noreply@blogger.com