Wyndham’s Theatre, London
It was Kenneth Branagh’s title role performance as Ivanov that set the standard for the Donmar’s star-studded West End season.
It was a standard not quite reached by Derek Jacobi’s Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and the dull Madame de Sade, with Judi Dench, got nowhere near. But Jude Law’s Hamlet is probably the most lucid, clearly-spoken performance of Shakespeare’s most exciting role I have seen or heard.
In nearly every respect, Michael Grandage’s modern-dress production — funereal chic is the fashion of the day — has gone back to the drawing board rather than rest on lazy assumptions. Ron Cook’s Polonius is no sycophantic buffoon but a sharp-suited, hard-edged court official; Gigi Mbatha-Raw’s pretty and affecting Ophelia avoids the usual nude loon; Penelope Wilton’s Gertrude transmits a fundamental decency and conservatism rather than the often-seen suppressed sexuality.
But it is Law’s Hamlet, who walks barefooted through snow as he ponders whether to be or not to be that will excite Shakepeare newcomers and old hands.
And so the Donmar’s West End season ends as it began, with a wonderful production.
www.donmarwarehouse.com
