Hamlet 2016 Production
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Firstly, before all else, Shakespeare isn't for everybody. I'd go as far to say his work is much like Marmite- you either love it or hate it- there's no in between of "eh, it's okay, I guess."
Hamlet is a classified as a tragedy and revenge play- where there's deceit and danger and madness and suicide and death- it's not a lighthearted prose and it was never intended to be- yet due to thease prevalent themes, the raw emotion and thought behind theatre productions allows for Hamlet to be perhaps the most entertaining.
I was fortune enough to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon and watch the latest 2016 adaptation with an all POC cast (Person of Colour) and a heavy influence of African culture and vibes.
The atmosphere was alive- classic African drums beating in time to tense moments, powdered paint in vivid colours thrown around, modern spins of classic words and soliloquys' that brought a tear to the eye.
Witty jokes were sprinkled throughout, passion in every word and moments where the audience would tense in their seats from what was to come.
Paapa Essiedu commands the heavy and tormented character of Hamlet, whose switching of emotion ranges from sane to insane, calm to rageful- and Lord, does he do it well. It's as if a light switch is in control of his emotions and speech, flickering back and forth, never staying too long on one personality.
It has been said by many critics that Hamlet is a role for all and if Maxine Peake, Dame Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Ethan Hawke and Paapa Essiedu are anything to go by, this claim is indeed true.
Hamlet is a classified as a tragedy and revenge play- where there's deceit and danger and madness and suicide and death- it's not a lighthearted prose and it was never intended to be- yet due to thease prevalent themes, the raw emotion and thought behind theatre productions allows for Hamlet to be perhaps the most entertaining.
I was fortune enough to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon and watch the latest 2016 adaptation with an all POC cast (Person of Colour) and a heavy influence of African culture and vibes.
The atmosphere was alive- classic African drums beating in time to tense moments, powdered paint in vivid colours thrown around, modern spins of classic words and soliloquys' that brought a tear to the eye.
Witty jokes were sprinkled throughout, passion in every word and moments where the audience would tense in their seats from what was to come.
Paapa Essiedu commands the heavy and tormented character of Hamlet, whose switching of emotion ranges from sane to insane, calm to rageful- and Lord, does he do it well. It's as if a light switch is in control of his emotions and speech, flickering back and forth, never staying too long on one personality.
It has been said by many critics that Hamlet is a role for all and if Maxine Peake, Dame Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Ethan Hawke and Paapa Essiedu are anything to go by, this claim is indeed true.
