Beautifully Tragic: Hamlet Reviewed

Mathilde Johnson’s production of Hamlet marked the end of another year for Mermaids: The University of St Andrews Performing Arts Fund, and every effort was made to ensure the finale was grand. Publicised as a different, and promised to be a more modernised, take on Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, I went into the Byre expecting… well, I’m not entirely sure.


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Mathilde Johnson’s production of Hamlet marked the end of another year for Mermaids: The University of St Andrews Performing Arts Fund, and every effort was made to ensure the finale was grand. Publicised as a different, and promised to be a more modernised. take on Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. I went into the Byre expecting… well, I’m not entirely sure. As a science student, Shakespearian English isn’t something that comes as naturally to me as it did for some of the audience. I found myself watching Hamlet as a complete novice to the story and, having not studied Shakespeare in a long while, I found it difficult at parts to understand the plot.

However, I have to say the play’s production made the process easier for me. I loved the introduction of modern elements, for example the use of voicemail messages on Ophelia’s phone, and the wire she wore (which was implanted by Claudius and her father) to reveal Hamlet’s confessions. Whilst I struggled, the rest of the audience clearly didn’t, and everyone was laughing at the funny points, and the people I talked to said they were very moved during the tragic points – such as Ophelia’s death scene.

The main characters in this play really did shine. Jack Briggs (Hamlet) gave a fantastic tribute to the classic ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy, and it really brought to life something I’ve only heard mentioned in media’s passing references. His seemingly bipolar personality captured, he could easily transition from a manic crazy state to a manic depressant one. Claudius (Ebe Bamgboye) gave a very strong performance, intensely portraying the heinous king with a very cold, evil nature. Ophelia (Kate Kitchens) was delicate and convincing. Her death and initial scene with Hamlet were my favourites in the whole play.

I particularly enjoyed the music choice which, according to the event Facebook page, was taken from authentic Danish artists. Playing ‘Riverside’ by Agnes Obel was a beautiful addition to the tragedy of Ophelia death, capturing the moment perfectly.

Visually, the play was quite simplistic with it’s use of props and other embellishments, with exception to the real sabres (taken from the Fencing Society, kudos to the actors who learnt to fence!). This enabled the actors to take centre stage. The costuming was simple, taking elements from sharp tailoring and Gothic post-wartime Britain. I really appreciated the move from traditional into something that was really quite chic, something I’d never seen a play do before.

Overall, I really enjoyed my evening. As someone who has previously never seen a play in St Andrews, Hamlet made me want to see more plays… which is good, right?