Too-hot-to-re-review: Hamlet, Harold Pinter

"I shall not look upon his like again"

My lack of willpower when it comes to theatre is infamous, even more so on the rare occasions when I get invited to be someone's plus one, with the responsibility of filing my own review lifted from the shoulders for once. Thus I found myself at the Harold Pinter for the transfer of the Almeida's Hamlet, a production I enjoyed immensely on the two occasions I saw it in North London and whose charms I wasn't entirely sure would translate to the larger theatre here. 

Those fears were largely unfounded - the scale of the intimate family drama that Robert Icke has fashioned from Shakespeare's ever-present tragedy amplifies effectively, and Andrew Scott's deeply conversational style still resonates strongly (in the stalls at least) through the familiar verse, finding new readings and meanings. If I'm brutally honest, I don't think I gained too much from this repeat viewing but that's just my rarified position - it is still a thrilling piece of theatre and it's a thrill to see it in the West End.

Running time: 3 hours 35 minutes (with 2 intervals)
Booking until 2nd September, Juliet Stevenson leaves the company on 1st July when she is replaced by Derbhle Crotty

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,