Guest blog post by Lisa Wisniowski
I should probably start this review of Northern Broadsides Hamlet with some huge caveats namely, (a) my family are ‘Friends of Northern Broadsides’ and (b) living in their home town of Halifax I manage to go to most of their productions.
For those of you not familiar with the company, Northern Broadsides was founded, and is still led by, renowned actor and artistic director Barry Rutter with the aim of performing Shakespeare and classical text with northern voices, in non-velvet spaces.
Having turned their indomitable style to 1984 and Romeo and Juliet and making headlines by setting comedian Lenny Henry in their award-winning production of Othello, I was intrigued to see their interpretation of one of the most revered plays of all time, Hamlet
Directed by Northern Broadsides stalwart Conrad Nelson, we’re introduced to the city of Elsinore, not in 1600 as originally penned but brought forward over 300 years to the late 1940’s. The actors turn their hand to the wonderful sound and harmonies of the big band decked out in some amazing finery throughout. Techniques worthy of note include the ghost of Old King Hamlet being manipulated using the Japanese art of bunraku and a fantastic fight scene which, when you’re in the round as at Dean Clough (http://www.deanclough.com) can be slightly too close for comfort!
Nicholas Shaw makes his Northern Broadsides debut as Hamlet. With a look more attuned to one of the T-Birds from Grease than the Hamlet we’re used to Shaw brings depth, gravity and humour to this challenging role. Natalie Dew plays the troubled Ophelia to great effect as well as turning her hand to singing the lead in some great big band numbers whilst Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, played by twins David and Richard Colvin leave you smiling after each exchange.
The rest of the cast, many who play dual roles, include some more familiar Northern Broadsides faces including the fabulously named Fine Time Fontayne.
The one criticism is that, at times, the musical interludes masked the dialogue but, that would be me just being picky! All in all, this new interpretation of one of the classic plays of all time is definitely one to see.
Hamlet is currently touring the UK including the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds between Tuesday 19 and Saturday 30th April.