HAMLET (Bristol Old Vic)*****

 

By Megan

Link: https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/hamlet-on-demand

Available until: 29^th November 2022 (48 hour rental)

Content warning: Violence, blood, vomit, death, suicide, live gunshots, strobe lighting

Age rating: 14+ (I'm only 12. I've seen Hamlet lots of times so we forgot to check the age rating because it's not a new play. It's not as violent as some of the films I've watched at sleepovers but Hamlet probably isn't a good choice for your first ever Shakespeare play)

 

I haven’t written a review for a very long time. I hope I haven’t forgotten how because this is a really good production which deserves the best possible review I can write. But I am out of practice and I am still only twelve so there might be things I get wrong and things I don’t understand.

HAMLET (Guildford School of Acting)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://gsauk.org/events/15201AJRGPHRLRVGVLSMBRKVQSJMVJBSH/book 

Available until: One more performance on Wednesday 17^th March at 7.30pm.

Hamlet is a brave choice for a drama school production. It’s a challenging play, there are so many twists and turns and it’s the type of play where you discover more every time you read it.

But what a great experience for these students, especially after suffering such disruption to their time at university. The performances are of a high standard, but maybe the most exciting thing is that they played characters in ways I hadn’t seen before and really challenged my feelings and thoughts about the play.

HAMLET (Glyndebourne Festival Opera)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKCSZMfkv5k

Available until: Sunday 23^rd August, 9pm

I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy reviewing a version of Hamlet quite so soon after The Show Must Go Online’s magnificent production of Shakespeare’s play, but I reminded myself that an opera is a different medium and probably nearly as different from the play as an Agatha Christie TV adaption is from the actual novel. Actually, the opera was closer to the play than I was expecting, even using Shakespeare’s text, but I did find I was thinking of the opera as a piece on its own merits as an opera, rather than just as a version of the play which inspired it.

HAMLET (The Show Must Go Online)*****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIDkPcYdSG0&t=8s

Available until: Indefinitely

The actors were so overwhelmed by their incredible performance, they could barely speak to introduce themselves at the end. I can really understand that. I think I’ve forgotten how to write, but I’ll do my best.

This was an absolutely outstanding Hamlet. It must be a difficult play to put on anyway with the length of it, the emotions, the physical challenges and not knowing which version of the play to use. The idea of Hamlet on Zoom must have been quite daunting, even for the wonderful TSMGO, but as always, they rose to the challenge and were brilliant.