Hamlet – The Young Vic, London

A review of Hamlet at the Young Vic, directed by Greg Hersov and starring Cush Jumbo. This gender-blind production has some stand-out performances, but stops short of being my pick of this season’s theatre.

Impressive Performances, Especially Cush Jumbo As Hamlet

It’s maybe a small pandemic silver lining. As this production of Hamlet was significantly delayed, I managed to get tickets to something that was initially very sold out. The Young Vic production of Hamlet, directed by Greg Hersov and starring Cush Jumbo, is a hot theatre ticket right now. And with good reason. The gender-blind casting puts a female actor into the lead role, still very much playing a male character. Her performance is top notch. Her Hamlet bristles with intelligence and energy, and leans into the unpleasant aspects of the character. Hamlet is not a great guy. He is responsible for quite a few deaths. He treats Ophelia pretty badly. And Jumbo plays Hamlet with enough light and shade that we understand him but do not excuse him.

Around Jumbo there are several more excellent performances. Joseph Marcell is a wonderful Polonius; a good father but pompous and in love with the sound of his own voice. Jonathan Ajayi plays Laertes, and delivers his lines with a naturalism I have not often seen in many Shakespearean productions. He makes the more traditional performances, eg. from Adrian Dunbar (Claudius) and Tara Fitzgerald (Gertrude) look tame in comparison. Perhaps that is the point, though; it highlights their contrived royal personas vs. the naturalism of Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia. Speaking of Ophelia, I loved Norah Lopez Holden in this role. She brought a raw and painful grief to Ophelia’s descent into madness, rather than the pretty and frail portrayals we often see. Really wonderful.

Direction And Design Choices

Some time after seeing Hamlet, I’m still not quite sure how I felt about the production overall. It was interesting reading the programme, which has essays by director Greg Hersov and designer Anna Fleischle. To consider the direction for a moment, I thought it was, for the most part, very good. Hersov talks in his essay about the various Hamlet texts available to a director, and his vision for selecting a path to follow. He has edited some elements down in order to keep the text relevant, and builds up a pace and tension which keeps the audience engaged in the first half, but maybe falters a little in the second. There are times, as a result, when it feels like the actors (particularly Jumbo) are carrying it, but I don’t know what I would suggest to change this feeling.

In terms of the set design, I felt this was also something that almost worked brilliantly, but didn’t quite come off. When I first came into the theatre I thought the set looked great, sort of like a minimalist, decayed art deco or classical vibe. Reading Fleischle’s essay, I see her intentions. The set represents decadence and power, and the moving columns manipulation and introspection. But the result of setting out the stage in this way was that the actors were, for the most part, confined to a mostly bare apron at the front. It felt somehow under-utilised. I did like the video design (mostly of the ghost of Hamlet’s father) by Nina Dunn. And the costumes were great – again distancing the politics and power bubble of Claudius and Gertrude from the other characters.

Despite all these ponderings I don’t want to give the impression that this is not a good production of Hamlet. The strength of the performances alone make it worth seeing. And I respect the vision for the rest of the production. I didn’t come out on a theatre-geek high like I did from Anything Goes, for example. But if you have got your hands on a ticket to Hamlet, well done, and you will certainly enjoy your evening!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Hamlet on until 13 November 2021