Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Rupert Goold
‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’. Opening on a military burial at sea and set pointedly in 1912, the foreboding tone is set for this thrilling revival of Shakespeare’s ultimate revenge tragedy. With no land in sight, the titular prince Hamlet (Ralph Davis) must reckon with his father’s death, his mother Gertrude’s marriage and his uncle Claudius’s betrayal. Clearly more than this ship is ill fated.
The bare set (designed by Es Devlin) and video projection (by Akhila Krishnan) work seamlessly together to create the upper and lower decks of the ship, with the ensemble in their maritime attire hauling in and out of trap doors, as the bobbing horizon shifts into the next scene with an inky dissolve. The starkness of the stage reflected in stripped back script, with the majority of the first act taking place on the wedding evening itself. This tightened timeline may not please all purists but gives a feverish dreamlike urgency to the action. It also foregrounds Gertrude’s new marriage, as she stays in bridal white throughout both acts, a pristine injury to Hamlet’s psyche.
Davis’ Hamlet is bitter, sarcastic and often cruel, almost hissing dialogue through gritted teeth as he prowls about the ship, feigning (and not feigning) madness. He juxtaposes well with Raymond Coulthard’s calm, warm statesman Claudius, a man seemingly driven more by love of Gertrude (Poppy Miller) than a desire for power. The charming, funny and curious Polonius (played wonderfully by Richard Cant) is gentler still, protective of uncertain yet fiery Ophelia (Georgia-Mae Myers).
Hamlet’s own late father (played commandingly by Ian Hughes) is fearsome, drawing Hamlet down into grief, horror and uncertainty, wrenching his own jaw open to speak, his words echoing Godlike through the mechanical bowels of the ship. Who is truly vulnerable or villainous changes with the tides, but the darkness within Hamlet is made chillingly manifest through the Ghost of his father in this interpretation.
Hughes returns to the stage as the amiable Player King in Hamlet’s scheme to expose the guilt of Claudius and Gertrude. Hamlet never seems more stable than when he is the ringmaster (top hat and tails included) of this bitter circus, using entertainment as a tool of interrogation. His appearance finally matches the pre-war gaiety and glamour that has been spilling out on the decks in the scene transitions, through moments of waltzing (movement direction by Hannes Langolf), clean military garb and beaded wedding finery (designed by Evie Gurney).
Claudius’ guilt captured in a flash of photography by the loyal Horatio, Hamlet can now completely harden his heart for vengeance and begin his destructive quest with chaotic fervour. All there is now is to watch and wait for this ship to be wrecked.
Runs until Saturday 18 April 2026
