6 posts tagged “hamlet”

First time I've seen images of David Tennant as Hamlet. Did I mention how excited I am about seeing this at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford in August?

In pictures, sort of:

(I had my lap top in a ruck sack which is why my shadow looks a bit like a Ninja Turtle
Views along my walk (I'm so lucky to live close enough to enjoy this walk to work)
It's refreshing to know that I have such an innocent reputation around the office. Several people asked Nadia if the card was a little too rude for me. In fact it made me snort with laughter, it was perfect. And I spent most of the day eating the cake, after all a chocolate high is a good state to  be working in...
Decided to have a picnic at lunch time (Nadia actually got a tan mark).
Or two with Mosh and my friend Kate followed by delicious chinese at my favourite restaurant in China Town: Fung Shing (soft shell crab followed by honey roasted eel, delicious)
And back home to open my pressies which were particularly fab this year, most notable being a new digital camera which is a much better version of the one I've already got from Mosh and some headphones to replace the ones I lost in Cuba and a beautiful silver bangle from my friend Chris with a quote from my favourite Shakespearean play on it.
Also got a massive haul of my favourite brand of plain chocolate which should probably last me weeks but probably won't...

Show us some tickets you bought for an upcoming event.

This is my most recent purchase and I've got to wait until next August before I can redeem it. But it was definitely worth getting the ticket early because David Tennant (Dr Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Casanova) is playing Hamlet and Jen and I will have front row seats!

Hamlet is my favourite Shakespeare play and it will be refreshing to see quite a young actor in the role. I've always felt the lead should be played by someone youthful so as to best represent the turmoil and indecision that inevitably comes with someone of a young age having to deal with such dramatic events in their life. There is also an element of 'me, me, me' in the character which is tinged with teen.
But this isn't the only production of Hamlet planned for the big stage. As Tennant finishes his run, Jude Law (Closer, Talented Mr Ripley) takes up the reins for the Donmar Warehouse in London.
Now Jude Law has never struck me as a particularly outstanding actor. Indeed one colleague, and fellow lover of the stage, commented on hearing the news that Law was play the great Dane: "You might as well throw a tea bag on the stage".

I've subsequently heard that Law is a fairly accomplished stage actor and has been treading the boards since his teens. It will be 2009 until I get to decide which is the closest assessment because I certainly plan on going to see it, if only to compare the two performances.

Haven't even had time to get really excited about seeing Ian McKellan in King Lear at Christmas when the RSC goes and dangles yet another tantalising play/actor combo before my very eyes.
I've just received advance purchase details for their 2008 summer/autumn Stratford season and not only is one of the plays going to be Hamlet - my favourite Shakespeare - but none other than David Tennant aka Barty Crouch jnr/Dr Who is taking the lead.
It will be nearly a year before I get to see such a pairing but I'm already excited about what he is going to bring to the role. My money is on quietly energetic...

There are rumours that Dr Who (and Barty Crouch Jnr) actor, David Tennant, is negotiating with the RSC to play

Hamlet. I can't but help get an image in my head of him loafing around the stage with his hands in his pockets, like in this picture, spouting out 'to be or not to be?' in that slightly nonchalant way.
Actually, I think he'd bring a different kind of energy to the role, a certain manic madness I suppose. Will definitely be rushing out and buying tickets if it proves a true story.

The Soho Theatre is a small venue - unallocated, bench seating that type of thing -

in a fairly new development on Dean Street. Bought tickets on a whim to see stand up comedian Michael McIntyre after he appeared on Have I Got News For You. Show didn't start until 9.45pm and lasted just over an hour. Price £15.
He was a funny chap but act-before-the-interval-at-Jongleurs funny rather than headline funny.
There's a play on during May called Leaves of Glass by Philip Ridley who is described by Time Out magazine as: 'a singular writer and the creator of some of the most peculiar, grotesque and compelling British plays (and films) of the last several years.'
This particular play is starring Ben Whishaw who came to notice playing the title role in Trevor Nunn's production of Hamlet at the Old Vic in London three years ago. Since then he's appeared in a handful of solid brit flicks such as Layer Cake and Enduring Love but had his biggest part as the lead in the critically acclaimed film Perfume at the end of last year.
I'd been thinking about seeing Leaves of Glass and decided to check what the availability was while I was picking up the McIntyre tickets. Again unallocated seating, £7.50 for the final day of the run.
How can an hour of a reasonably funny comedian be £15 while a play with an actor of the stature of Ben Whishaw be £7.50?
Not that I'm complaining. Far from it, Equus was £50 for a seat on row U. It is obviously a short play because the comedy was on afterwards and, as a bonus, when we were heading upstairs to the theatre to take our seats Ben Whishaw himself was standing chatting on the stairs.
Mosh didn't have a clue who he was so I had to be star struck by myself. Am really looking forward to the play as Whishaw is a very good actor and it will be a rare treat in such an intimate theatre (if you sit on the front row your knees are virtually touching the stage). I also have a feeling that he is going to go on to bigger things and hope to be able to say one day, well I saw him in...