LET me confess that the thought of sitting through Shakespeare’s longest play, with its less-than-sunny themes of treachery and murder, did not fill me with unalloyed joy.

However, Jo Puttick’s judiciously pruned production and a mercifully rain-free evening combined to provide an experience well worthy of Boat’s inclusion in De Brett’s list of the top five things to do in England.

Superb costumes and a first-rate set have their roles, but of course the play’s the thing – just one of the many familiar phrases that Hamlet contains.

The production runs the gamut of emotions from A to Z and, given its content, is surprisingly amusing on occasions, not least in the antics of grave-digger Paul de Burton and his assistant (David Clements).

A highly expressive Neil Mathieson is absolutely outstanding in the title role.

His anguish at his uncle’s treachery is palpable and deeply moving and his final scene with close friend and confidant Horatio (an excellent Mark Lange) is almost tear-jerking in its intensity.

The other major characters of Claudius (Harry Susser), Gertrude (Angela Whyatt), Polonius (Don Gent) and Ophelia (Sadie Parsons) are superbly played, the latter’s mad scene being particularly memorable.

And Brian Woolton (Laertes), Stuart Glossop (Osric) and Daniel Stanton-Wright (Player Queen/ Priest) more than make their mark in smaller roles.


Linda Kirkman