Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet is spirited and enjoyable. Hamlet is played by Paapa Essiedu. The play is set in Denmark. In the play, Hamlet is sent by his dead father, King Hamlet, on a mission to kill his uncle Claudius, played by Clarence Smith. Claudius killed King Hamlet to assume his throne. Therefore, Hamlet wanted revenge against his uncle. Throughout the play, revenge is a key component and motive for Hamlet. As Claudius understands what Hamlet’s plans are, Claudius starts to make plans of his own. Claudius gets frightened as he finds out that Hamlet wants to murder him. In response to this threat, Claudius creates a plan to murder Hamlet. RSC’s rendition of Hamlet uses lighting, the actors’ performances, and music to show a potential outcome of revenge.
According to Britannica, Hamlet is a play that was written by William Shakespeare from 1599-1601. The inspiration behind Hamlet isn’t completely clear, but Culture Trip states that the Finnish poetry book called Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot inspired Shakespeare in writing Hamlet. The similarities between Hamlet and Kalevala are evident. An example stated in the article is that in Hamlet, the uncle killed Hamlet’s father, and for that, Hamlet seeks revenge. In Kalevala, Kullervo’s father is defeated by his uncle, and his uncle sells Kullervo into slavery, which causes Kullervo to seek to defeat his uncle. A visible theme in the play is revenge. Hamlet is driven by the idea of getting revenge against Claudius. Skulls and ghosts are seen quite frequently in the play. In life, skulls symbolize death and a decomposing body. In Hamlet, skulls served a similar purpose. They showed that life is temporary and so is the human body. Another symbol that is a significant part of the play is ghosts. In everyday life, ghosts can be seen as scary and are often connected to the idea of revenge. Hamlet’s dead father is a ghost in the play who asks Hamlet to see revenge against Claudius for killing him. So ghosts in the play symbolize King Hamlet and spirits seeking revenge.
Lighting is used to portray a certain mood to the audience. In Hamlet, lighting can be very dark where all the audience can see a shadow. At other times, lighting can be crisp, and it can look like a spotlight is igniting the entire stage. An example of the illumination providing a mood is at the 30-minute mark of the play. The illumination is faint, and the audience can’t see the character’s facial expressions. For the audience, the lighting provokes mystery and suspense. The audience feels that something impactful is going to happen. Faint lighting triggers uneasiness in the audience as they don’t know what’s going to happen next. An example of solid lighting is at the 45-minute mark. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, played by Jame Cooney and Bethan Cuillane, talk to Claudius and Gertrude, played by Tanya Moody. Gertrude and Claudius want both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s help to distract Hamlet. In this scene, the lighting is illuminating the actors and you can clearly see their facial expressions. The clear lighting brings ease to the audience and takes away the foreshadowing for a later event.
The actors’ executions of their characters complimented the play in many ways. Paapa Essiedu, the actor who portrayed Hamlet, brought the character to life in this production. The emotional range of Essiedu came out close to the 35-minute mark. Essiedu shows fear, shock, and disapproval in these scenes. In these scenes, Hamlet is confronted with the ghost of his dead father. Hamlet is shocked speechless but then finds words as the encounter continues. The vocal intensity in this scene also brought the lines to life. As Hamlet wears a shocked expression, he raises his voice when conversing with his dead father, played by Ewart James Walters. The vocal intensity captures the audience’s attention. Another performance that stands out is Ophelia’s performance when speaking to Gertrude. Ophelia played by Natalie Simpson, looks pained and angry when communicating with Gertrude. Ophelia was in a stage of grief and she scared Gertrude away with her yelling.
The music in Hamlet is roaring and uses drums. Bruce O’Neil is the music director of RSC’s production of Hamlet. The music has a cultural flair and tends to use a lot of drumming sounds. In most of the play, the music is upbeat and fast. For instance, at around the one-and-a-half-hour mark of the play, the music is loud and follows a fast tempo. In this scene, the music was used to transition the audience to another event. One of the only singing scenes in the production is thirty minutes before the play finishes. In this scene, the gravedigger, played by Ewart James Walters, sings while holding a bone. In this scene, there aren’t drumming sounds but more flute sounds. This makes the audience feel light-hearted and optimistic. The contrasting music in different scenes, makes the production spring to life for the audience. Music choice is vital as it helps the audience feel like part of the play.
Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet by William Shakespeare uses lighting, performances, and music to teach the audience the nature of revenge. Throughout this play, the audience watches Hamlet pursue revenge against his uncle for killing his father. Near the end of Hamlet’s journey, he gets poisoned and eventually dies. The many dynamics of the relationships in this play make it engaging for the audience. The lighting creates unique moods for the audience members. The music adds to the play by bringing the scenes to life. The performers in this production brought their characters to life with vast emotional ranges. From the RSC’s rendition of Hamlet, the audience can learn the consequences of revenge.
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