Theatre review: Hamlet

Published on Monday 1 March 2010 18:03

HAMLET *** TOLBOOTH, STIRLING

MURDER, revenge killings, struggles for power, and a code of honour more often breached than observed; oh yes, it's easy enough to see those parallels between Glasgow gangland and the world of classic tragedy that tempt directors towards the Taggart-style update. In the last couple of years, for example, we've had a gangland Romeo and Juliet at the Citizens, and a gangland Bernarda Alba from the National Theatre of Scotland.

And now, here's Michael Emans of the shoestring Rapture Theatre with a bold Glasgow take on the most famous classic of all, which turns Denmark into a dodgy business empire based in Glasgow, frames Hamlet as the Michael Corleone-type son who went to university and thought he could escape the family business, and punctuates the action with jokey Radio Scotland-style news bulletins.

Predictably, the idea works better for some aspects of the play than others. Set against a powerful Glasgow-by-night backdrop, the show perfectly captures Hamlet's attitude to the rest of his power-crazed family; and it also opens up some interesting reflections on the relationship between violence, power, the cult of patriarchy, and the crushing of the fragile Ophelia, impressively played by Emily Jane Boyle.

Elsewhere the show is less successful. The production lasts for more than three hours but still misses the whole political story of Fortinbras. Most of the ten-strong cast are underused; and although they treat Shakespeare's text with huge respect, the production visually contradicts it at every turn.

Still, there's some decent acting here, not least from Grant O'Rourke as a hugely promising Hamlet, finding his range – after a muted start – when he rises to the challenge of the great soliloquies. At the end I found tears pricking my eyes, as Donald Munro's unassuming Horatio sang him to his rest; and that's no small tribute to a flawed but fascinating production of such an infinitely familiar play.