To be or not to be- Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet

So, I'm back from London and I said that I would start with Hamlet. If you have any questions or want to know anything else about certain cast members or more about the set etc., drop me a message or here or twitter @sophd221b 

 I had the tickets for my 21st birthday, as I said I am a big Sherlock fan and I couldn't miss the chance to see Benedict Cumberbatch live. Benedict is my sister's favourite actor in Sherlock so I offered the second ticket to her rather than taking a friend along, I couldn't let her miss this. I had never seen Hamlet before, but I had read the play, so was quite excited that he was going to take on this role. We got the tickets last July, so the wait had been excruciating!

We watched it on Friday 28th August 2015, at the Barbican Centre. We were sat on the 3rd row, slightly left of centre (about 3 seats from the middle, but due to the shape of the stage, we were basically in the middle for lots of the actions). We had no understudies on the night.

Full cast list

I'll quickly talk about things the press had been going on about regarding the audience etc. and what we experienced on the night. There were not as many young people in as the media would lead you to believe, In fact, we think there were more young people at Richard III (probably due to ticket prices). There were a few loud Cumberbatch fans in, who were running around and messing about whilst in the restaurants and waiting to go in, but once we were inside the auditorium, they seem to calm down when surrounded by other people. They did perform the ID checks, which I think are a good idea to be  honest, I hate those people who buy loads of tickets only to sell them on for ridiculous prices. They were very strict with the no phones/cameras, which I also agree with, the actors were very close to the front of the stage for lots of scenes, and the room was not big so it would be very distracting, as well as protecting images of the set etc. We only saw one person trying to take a selfie, who were immediately warned, and a few people trying to take sneaky pictures of Stephen Fry who was sat two rows behind us. Other than that, the audience behaved perfectly. One annoying thing is that some people missed the second half just to go and wait at the stage door. All the cast look exhausted afterwards, especially Benedict, so people standing by the stage door is getting on people's nerves a bit as they then feel obliged to stay and sign things. According to Twitter he even said he needed to go quickly as he had two shows the next day. It seemed better when they said they wouldn't be signing things and they can all go home and rest so they can give a good performance again the next day.

I'll start with the set, staging, lighting and sound etc. The stage is really quite big compared to the size of the auditorium and is very deep. The curtain is a sort of metal box that opens up to reveal Benedict sitting down listening to a gramophone. After this scene, another part of the set rises and reveals the whole stage and the setting for the rest of the play. This is huge, it is a to scale, country estate house entrance hall, including the staircase and chandelier. It goes back really far, and they do use the stage to their advantage. Especially in the second half set during the battles, as they have characters walking away into the darkness, which is really effective. The props were quite interesting, I liked the swords dotted around, and the toy castle and soldiers used to show Hamlet's madness were nice and showed off the childishness of him. They do use all of the stage, from upstairs, to the very front and the very back, running back and forth. There is a carpet which the actors need to be careful of as they did nearly trip on it a few times, especially in the dancing part which is a bit distracting as you don't want them to fall over! The costumes were sometimes quite basic, but were fine. Benedict's changed every now and then, with him wearing different parts of a soldier's uniform throughout the play alongside other things to show his madness. Him in the full uniform, including the hat, walking up and down a table full of serious documents when he was playing madness amused people a lot.

The lightning was nice and worked well with the set, it worked particularly well with the appearances of the ghost and no part was ever too dark. There were a few issues with the sound, at points it was hard to hear the actors when they were at the back of the stage and a buzzing sound kept appearing throughout. We were really close to the front, so I'm not sure people near the back or top would have been able to hear everything all the actors said. Benedict himself was always loud enough and his booming voice filled the whole room when he was shouting (you could hear Smaug at certain points!) Having him at the front of the stage for important scenes was very nice and he was very close to the audience so you could see all of his facial expressions and small movements e.g. of his muscles tensing, which was effective. When actors were upstairs it was sometimes hard to see and I think we got better views than people sitting on the far right as some scenes were done right in front of us, slightly to the left, which I imagine would have been hard to see if you were far away or high up.

Here's a a picture from the programme which is the end of the first half, this storm was accompanied by a huge bang which had people, including my sister, jumping out of their seats, this scene was very impressive. This is the main set as well: (sorry about the shine from the flash, it's too dark to take without the flash on)

Ghost of Hamlet's father

Onto the actors and actresses: Benedict is obviously the stand out performer. He really dominates the stage as soon as he enters each time. My favourite scenes were those he performed either with the ghost of his father or his mother, especially when discussing his uncle. Those with his friends were the funniest and when he was dancing around it was very amusing. The pace picked up a lot in the madness scenes and you could see Sherlock coming out of him in his gestures and how he was speaking the lines. The 'To be or not to be' was in in the right place and came after his madness on the table, which I think worked well as it flipped Hamlet's personality back from silliness to serious and vulnerability. His fencing skills were good, and the tension really did rise in this scene. In fact I heard my sister say 'Oh no' to herself, so people were really into it. I didn't want to even move a centimeter at this part. You can tell he has been working out (possibly for Dr Strange) as he was very fast when running around and looked quite strong and more muscly than usual. Here's his section in the programme in case anyone is interested:

Benedict's part of the programme

Image taken from the programme showing just before the fight scene

The rest of the cast did a good job as well. I liked both the King and Queen, as well as Hamlet's friends, Laertes and soldiers. As I said earlier, the Queen worked really well with Hamlet, especially when discussing her feelings over Hamlet's father and his uncle. Ophelia was a bit boring at times, the piano playing was a bit annoying, but the scene with her flowers and after were really well acted and very emotional. The only character that annoyed me a bit was Horatio. He was always carrying this backpack yet we were not quite sure where he was supposed to have come from and just appeared at random points. When he was supposed to be helping Hamlet e.g. watching the King's reaction to a play, you couldn't really see him  (he was placed upstairs) and to be honest Hamlet didn't really need his help. When Hamlet was dying, this could have been a lot more emotional as the actor didn't really do this scene justice or it had been directed wrongly.

Overall, I am so glad that we went and to see Benedict live was incredible. You could see the influence of other characters he has played, especially Sherlock in the faster pace or comical scenes, and I do think he was better live than on screen. The set was incredible and one of the best I have seen. The rest of the cast were good, with some stronger than others, which is a same as everyone needed to be quite strong to match Benedict really and you could tell that some were better than others. Fortunately the King and Queen did well, which saved it a bit a points. The tense moments were great and the comical moments helped to lighten it up a bit and keep interest. Some parts were hard to follow as reviews had warned, by moving lots around or cutting bits it can be dangerous, it did need to be shorter than intended obviously, but by putting it in a modern setting as well, some points were harder to follow than others. Overall, I think everyone will enjoy it really, if not only to see Benedict in a stand out performance.

Now is the winter of our discontent

We saw it on the 29th August 2014, at the Trafalgar Studios. We had no understudies for the performance.

Last year, my 20th birthday present was two tickets to see Richard III. Why did I want to see Richard III? Well, for my A Level history personal study in 2012/3 I chose, you've guessed it, Richard III. After doing so much research and really getting into the topic, I ended up really liking him and his story. I think he is a really interesting character and it's funny that I ended up at the University of York as we now wear the white rose in our own war of the roses sport event against Lancaster each year. I became a member of the Richard III society as I was in contact with lots of the main staff whilst doing my project and have never left it!

I then saw in the newspaper that Richard III was going to be in London whilst we were there and my Mum said that I could have two tickets for my birthday. Only after we had already agreed all of this did I find out that Martin Freeman, my favourite actor, was going to be playing Richard! I'm a big Sherlock fan as all of my family and friends know, but have liked him for a long time in other things as well. My Mum also liked him so was going to be the person that came with me. However, my sister started to really get into the Hobbit, found out who he was, and begged to go instead, which what happened!

The night got slightly more exciting when we found out Benedict Cumberbatch, Louise Brealey, Andrew Scott and Amanda Abbington (all from Sherlock) were all in the audience just in front of us. We met Amanda afterwards, and my sister also met Gok Wan whilst I was getting her an ice cream! 

Onto the show, Richard III was written by William Shakespeare in around 1592, and it is classed as a tragedy. It is based on the real King Richard III and the supposed events leading up to his reign, during his reign and after. It is important to remember that Shakespeare was writing when Elizabeth I was on the throne, so a descendant of the House of Lancaster, who fought for the crown from Richard who was the last King from the House of York so obviously it will be biased against his character, but it is also a piece of entertainment so he obviously did make things up and/or exaggerate things e.g. the extent of the hump. If anybody wants anymore of the history or controversy, let me know and I can answer any questions using my A Level project! Through the play, we see Richard's attempt to rise to power, featuring events such as the death of his eldest brother Edward, his plot to kill his other brother George, his relationship with his nephews who would have been heirs to the throne and also the death of his wife. All historically controversial and debated events. Other central themes are his relationship with Warwick and both of his daughters, as well as his own nieces. The underlying issue for most of the play is the threat from the House of Lancaster, which accumulates in the final battle at the end where the famous lines 'A Kingdom for a horse' are uttered. Finishing with his death and the rise of Henry VII. 

This version was set in the 1970s, the winter of discontent to be exact, during a type of political coup, with Edward as a sort of dictator type figure.  His brothers and friends were his 'cabinet' members. The whole thing takes place in the main office of the new government basically. This was a bit confusing for some people, and in some ways it worked well, at other points it was a bit silly and strange.   George drowning in a fish tank was quite strange, and people did complain about the fish being in danger which I believe were eventually removed.

I thought that the cast did a really go job, Shakespeare can be boring and they were performing to quite a young audience, although it wasn't full of annoying Sherlock and Hobbit fans as some newspapers had reported. There were very few disturbances either as the papers had been going on about. In fact the only one I can recall is two foreign girls were texting on their phone in front of us that the Sherlock cast were in. Benedict Cumberbatch himself made the most noise at the end and started off the standing ovation. I didn't really like Queen Margaret who came on and off to deliver what I think are curses or some type of warning as it was all a bit creepy and over the top and she sat at the side for a long time at one point for no reason really and lay down on the floor at another point, which was a bit strange. All of the brothers and wives were brilliantly acted though and you could see the type of people Shakespeare was trying to portray. 

I quite liked the set, although it was a bit annoying having some members of the audience behind the actors as it ruined the setting a bit and obviously they fidgeted around a lot as they couldn't see lots of the action properly. There was a smaller piece of set right next to where we were sitting where Richard goes through some plans, so this was quite exciting as Freeman basically came out into the audience. The house lights were also put on at one point to make it feel as though you were in the scene with them. The set was basically the office, so lots of big tables and varying sizes of chair's to show who the important people were. Soliloquies were performed through a wired microphone directly to the audience which was very effective I think. 

Once the action really got going in the second act, it really did come to life. There was some blood, but again, not as much as the papers had been saying, which personally, my sister and I were a bit disappointed about as we were quite close to the front! Freeman did an excellent job of showing Richard's desperation and showed Richard's more vulnerable side, rather than making him come across as a monster all the way to his death. Freeman was particularly good with the comical moments and some of his facial expressions really have stuck in my sister's and my memories as they are probably what we laughed at the most. The costumes were mostly military, which fitted the setting well and Richard's hump was not over the top as it can be sometimes. There were some very loud bangs (I think they were the guns going off I can't quite remember) which had people jumping out of their seats, including my sisters and the girls just in front who got quite embarrassed as I didn't even flinch (which I've been told I rarely do at things that are supposed to for some reason). 

Overall, I am really glad that we went. I got to see one of my favourite historical characters, played by my favorite actor. Once you got used to seeing Richard and co. as being people in the 1970s and not in 1485 as they should have been, you could really get into the story. It possibly needed a bit more explanation of the setting, which was in the programme but if you didn't have one or read it beforehand, you could easily have been confused. However, I do think that the cast did a really good job and they did deserve that standing ovation. Well done Jamie Lloyd and Trafalgar Transformed. 

Some good news

So my little sister has just offered to help with the blog, so she will be contributing greatly to the reviews of Wicked (as she will have seen it three times after this week!), and the Lion King. She has also offered to do Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which is where she and my Mum went when I went to see Million Dollar Quartet with my Dad, so I have no idea what that is like!

Let's see how long it takes before I can get those posted!

Programmes!

Here are most of the programmes I have, I do have some more of the larger ones, so I'll try and photograph them in the future. I have lost some or didn't get one, such as for Mamma Mia, or have ones for the same shows which are very similar, but I will try and mention them at some point. 

Timescale/ posts

I'll try and update as soon as I can, but it really does depend on uni workload, jobs and tests and assessment centres for grad schemes etc.

I'll post some photos of the programmes of the shows I have been to see, hopefully starting from last year and working backwards, so you can see what is possibly coming up.

I am going on holiday to London tomorrow, this year I am seeing The Importance of being Earnest, Hamlet and The Woman in Black, so I'll probably review those as soon as I get back and then work backwards.

If there are any people are desperate to read about drop me a message on here or twitter and I'll do those first!

Earliest memories and how the blog will work

Right, so this blog will be about my experiences at the theatre. I'm a huge musical theatre fan but in the last few years have been getting into plays more. I'm told the first musical I ever saw was Joseph when I was about four, but the first one I can remember is Grease when I was about eight, that is the oldest programme I have as well. In fact, it was because of Grease that I eventually took up playing the saxophone and achieved grade 8 a few years ago.

I obviously can't go all the way back then, so I will try and focus on the latest things first. I do want to talk about some of my favourite and least favourite shows from the past though. I'll set up posts for them and then edit them when I have time, so keep checking up on ones that you might be interested in.

I go on holiday to London with my family most years and we try and see around two shows. Sometimes it has been three when special things have been on, such as this year, I received Hamlet tickets for my 21st birthday so that was added into our list of shows for this year. When I was at school, we always had a music week, where the school's orchestra went away for a week to just work on preparing music for our summer concert. Mid-week we went on a day trip to London to see a show and have a meal at somewhere famous such the Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood. It was definitely my favourite thing about school and my best memories of school come from that week. At home, we do try and see touring shows or plays if we have missed them in the westend or they are particular favourites. Otherwise, I am mostly given tickets to see comedians for my main birthday or Christmas present.

So, what is my favourite musical. For a long time it was Grease, and it is still hard for me to stay that it isn't. However, the musical that I have been most impressed by and loved in the last few years is Jersey Boys. I went to see it for my 16th birthday and again last year in Manchester. I love the music in Grease and how it has lots of the comedy moments. My favourite song is 'There are worse things I could do', as the actress playing Rizzo is usually the strongest singer in the cast and it is a very powerful song.  Jersey Boys has fantastic music and always has a great big band. The story is brilliant and takes you through so many different emotions. My favourite song has to be 'Can't take my eyes off you', which I played as my final performance with the big band at college and I played the lead, which was an incredible experience. The best play I have seen has to be Journey's End, it was so well acted and was very emotional. I went with my Dad and he was even speechless as we left the theatre, the ending is so powerful.

Obviously, I must warn you about SPOILERS as this blog progresses!

Hello!

Hello everyone,

I have been wanting to start a blog about something that I love for a long time. Therefore, my first idea, was theatre!

I have another blog on tumblr that is centered around my time at uni, and I have mostly been using that as something where I can record my memories and give advice to others thinking about going to uni, the link is sophiesstudentlifeblog.tumblr.com I'd really appreciate you following that. Lots of crazy and random things happen in York and you never know who will be visiting next or what film/TV show will be filming there next. I've uploaded a few pics. I took when Jonathan Strange was filmed there last year.

At the moment, I am also writing another blog as I am leading the Summer Reading Challenge at my local library. I did try to get front of house/education work experience at my local theatres, The Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall in Stoke, but I received no reply sadly. Anyway, here is the link to my SRC blog, I will be posting on it until mid-Septemberish! http://sophiessummerreadingchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

My twitter account is @sophd221b you can keep up to date on there about which shows I am about to see or have just seen as I do get quite excited. My profile picture is usually me and my younger sister outside a theatre and the background I think is still Horrible Histories!