HAMLET

TheRSC

Run Dates

2001.12.11 ~ 2002.02.04

Barbican Centre

London Premiere

2001.11.05 ~ 2001.11.11

Newcastle Theatre Royal

2001.05.02 ~ 2001.10.13

RSC

World Premiere

About the show

This modern-dress production had the feel of a contemporary political drama. Dressed in the latest fashions, the characters inhabited a bare stage, lit with dazzling spotlights. Sam West as Hamlet was the archetype moody youth, wearing a bulky black parka jacket, with a black woollen hat pulled low over his face as if he was trying to escape video surveillance. Horatio recorded the reactions of the King and Queen to the play-within-a-play on a hand-held video camera, projecting the image onto a screen. Later, Hamlet shot a bullet through the screen to kill the eavesdropping Polonius. The production was also notable for casting the 19 year old Kerry Condon as Ophelia.

Details

CAST Finn Caldwell – Fortinbras / Player 1 Wayne Crater – Rosencrantz Glenn Chapman – Barnardo Kerry Condon – Ophelia Marty Cruickshank – Gertrude James Curran – Priest / Voltemand Alan David – Gravedigger 1 / Polonius John Dougall – Horatio Giles Fagan – Francisco Christopher Good – Ghost / Osric Sean Hannaway – Guildenstern Chuk Iwuji – Cornelius / Prologue Robert Jezek – Player King Adam Kay – Reynaldo Damian Kearney – Captain Larry Lamb – Claudius Jennifer McEvoy – Player Queen Michael Mears – English Ambassador Ben Meyjes – Laertes Conor Moloney – Gravedigger 2 Hattie Morahan – Gentlewoman Samuel West – Hamlet Alex Zorbas – Messenger CREATIVE TEAM Playwright – William Shakespeare Director – Steven Pimlott Designer – Alison Chitty Light Designer – Peter Mumford Music – Jason Carr Fight Arranger – Malcolm Ranson production photo Manuel Harlan © RSC