I watched Hamlet last night and... well, before anything else, I just want to say that I was craving this particular production because Sarah Blasko is in it. True to form, she did very very well, musically. There were several songs in the play which could only be described as haunting. I know it's not a musical, but still, yay for Sarah Blasko.
I totally get why people would queue up for Brendan Cowell. He is a very intense actor on stage and once he does his thing, he is on fire. It's just that he seems to be dancing to a different beat to everyone else. I knew this was a Sydney Theatre Company production, but he seems to be in Bell Shakespeare mode. And to be honest, there are times I wonder if Hamlet is being played by Brendan Cowell or his ego.
Mind you, I'm not saying this was a bad production. Far from it, really! The set design was yummy and their use of water in this production was ingenious and astounding. I rarely get to work with water on a set because it wreaks havoc on the set. So to see a production using water as a such a powerful symbol is very refreshing. AND! the music of Sarah Blasko is enough to warrant the admission price.
But I don't think I will strongly recommend this production. After the first act, some people on our right didn't come back for the second act. I think they were idiots for leaving, but a very, very small part of me was envious. 3/5 slices.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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