202005621aws2021

[202005621aws2021]

Benedict Cumberbatch Stars as Shakespeare’s Young Revenge Protagonist

Originally performed at the Barbarian Theatre in 2015, and broadcast to cinemas later that same year, the National Theatre production of Hamlet became the fastest selling show in London theatre history. Benedict Cumberbatch takes the titular role of Hamlet, a young student troubled with grief by the murder of his father, and the hasty remarriage of his mother to his Uncle. In this modernised production, directed by Lyndsey Turner and Robin Lough, audiences get to witness the slow burning consequences of Hamlet’s mission in seeking revenge. Stage designer, Es Devlin dazzles audiences with her beautiful designs for the large stage of the Barbarian Theatre. With the creation of a bedroom, ballroom, a common area and a beautifully damaged castle full of rubble and leaves, Devlin transports the audience through multiple locations with her use of carefully placed props and masterful lighting. The captivating destruction of the castle adds such a beautiful detail to Shakespeare’s play, creating a visual representation of the destruction caused by the betrayal and revenge between each of the characters.

The above photograph shows Devlin’s aforementioned set design for IV.vii in which Sian Brooke’s Ophelia slowly walks over the rubble, leaves and overturned chairs to the back of the stage and towards her death. Anastasia Hille’s Gertrude notices Ophelia and, realising the danger struggles after, her but it is unfortunately too late. This beautifully haunting set design not only represents the destruction of Elsinore itself but also how the repercussions of revenge have caught up to our protagonist creating nothing but death and destruction around him. When the play was first performed in the early 1600s, there would have been a trap door in the stage to represent Ophelia’s grave which Devlin recreates on the Barbarian Theatre stage in V.i, however, perhaps making it look more realistic by the rubble and mud surrounding it.

Conventional revenge protagonists usually accept their role as the revenger early on within a revenge tragedy and therefore are completely determined in their mission to exact revenge. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is therefore a refreshing take on the revenge genre as we have a protagonist whose main impediment is his own conscience. Within the National Theatre production, directors Turner and Lough beautifully aid Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of a deeply devastated and vulnerable Prince through their use of costume and set. As the play opens, the audience is greeted by Cumberbatch’s Hamlet packing up his deceased father’s belongings. We see a recognisable state of grief as he smells his father’s jacket before going on to wear it throughout the beginning of the performance. Old Hamlet’s jacket, therefore, becomes a symbol for the grief that drives Hamlet to “sweep to [his] revenge". It also serves as a reminder to the audience of the relationship that was had between Hamlet and his father and how Hamlet is still struggling to move on. This becomes a juxtaposition to Gertrude, whose first appearance on stage is walking down the grand staircase with a big smile, hand in hand with her new husband, Claudius.

Shakespearean critic, Kiernan Ryan, suggests Hamlet is a “tragic protagonist who refuses, for reasons he cannot understand himself, to play the role in which he has been miscast by the world he is in.” In II.ii, through Hamlet, Shakespeare describes Denmark as, “a prison” suggesting Hamlet feels trapped and isolated even though he is at home, a place where you expect to feel safest and the most comfortable. Perhaps this feeling of isolation and confinement comes from his fear of being “miscast” into the role of a typical revenge protagonist. Unlike Laertes and Fortinbras who act as foils to Hamlet, he doesn’t feel the “divine ambition” that they seem to have with getting revenge for their deceased fathers. Instead, he needs time to think about the moral implications of his actions whereas Laertes, in IV.v declares, “let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged/Most thoroughly for my father.” With the help of the creative set design, Cumberbatch expresses this feeling of being miscast within his surroundings perfectly. In II.ii, just before he describes Denmark as a “prison”, Cumberbatch can be seen playing/hiding within a miniature castle with large toy soldiers placed at each corner. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern walk down the staircase, Hamlet seems to be defending his miniature castle. This could be interpreted as a miniature representation of Elsinore and Hamlet’s defending of it, is Hamlet trying to keep out the pressures of being not only a revenging son but also the revenging protagonist.

Cumberbatch engages the audience’s sympathies by portraying an intelligent mind that seems to be falling apart under the burden of grief and revenge. Cumberbatch’s extravagant entrance in II.ii reveals an outfit change for Hamlet into a bright red soldier outfit, which portrays to the audience the deep impact grief and the promise of revenge has had on the Prince’s mental state. The dramatic irony throughout the performance is that the more energetic and childish Cumberbatch becomes, the more Hamlet is emotionally deteriorating. As critic Isabelle Casey suggests, this emotional deterioration is supported through Cumberbatch’s effortless soliloquy-style confessionals in which Hamlet’s feelings are revealed to the audience. Although Hamlet agrees to the ghost’s request to, “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder”, it is not long before Hamlet begins to have moral doubts and starts to fear that the ghost “may be the devil”. With this revelation, Hamlet needs to have “grounds/more relative” and suggests putting on a play that reflects the murder of his father will help him to “catch the conscience of the King”. Cumberbatch’s performance perfectly captures Hamlet’s “antic disposition” and blurs the line between appearance and reality making audiences question Hamlet’s emotional and mental state constantly throughout the performance.

Unfortunately, the National Theatre’s staging of the play-within-the-play scene, is rather disappointing. Hamlet’s focus is on the reaction of Claudius, and it would therefore make sense for the audience to be able to join Cumberbatch in his observations, however, the spectators of the Mousetrap are hidden in shadows with their backs to the audience, so the primary focus is on the ‘play-within-the-play”. When they eventually turn to face the audience, directors Turner and Lough have Cumberbatch act out the lines meant for the villainous Lucianus. This directorial change creates new interpretations within III.ii. For example, Claudius’ abrupt departure could be interpreted as a response to Hamlet’s rude intervention within the performance. On the other hand, perhaps Claudius aligns Hamlet with Lucianus and by Cumberbatch now speaking those last lines, Claudius may interpret this as a threat to the King rather than revealing Claudius to be guilty.

On the whole, this 2015 production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is extremely effective in engaging the sympathies of the audience and showing a mature, rational mind disordered by grief and the promise of revenge. As David Scott Kastan describes, revenge is a desperate mode of imitation in which wrongs are avenged with wrongs. By stalling his revenge and playing for time, Hamlet not only avenges his father’s murder in the spur of the moment, but he also becomes the catalyst for the deaths of most of the characters throughout the play. Shakespeare’s Hamlet presents revenge as a dangerous way to get justice. Although we are presented with a protagonist who is mostly cautious and doesn’t follow the typical conventions of a revenging son, the play still ends in death and tragedy. With brilliant acting, modern costumes and eye-catching set designs, the National Theatre’s new production is an unmissable new performance of the Shakespearean tragedy.