Hamlet  ☆☆☆☆☆
Iris Theatre

Director Daniel Winder does death wonderfully: whether it is Gertrude’s poisoning which is visceral and gruesome, or Polonius’s violent and prolonged demise at the sharp end of Hamlets dagger. Welcome to Hamlet – Game of Thrones style!

Iris Theatre is a summertime institution. For the last ten years it has produced award winning accessible theatre always embedded within the beautiful churchyard of St Pauls in Covent Garden with its hollyhocks, red and yellow roses and scarlet petunias. The church sits within the very heart of theatre land and has been known as the Actors Church from as far back as 1662, not long after it was built. To say there is theatrical history within these very walls is an understatement (the ashes of Dame Edith Evans and Dame Ellen Terry both rest here).

In terms of atmosphere then, what more suitable a venue to host Shakespeare’s greatest ghost story, set on a dark winter’s night on the walls of Elsinore Castle. And what a ghost! The costume by designer Madeline Berry is astonishing – a stocking with lurid green makeup and padding covers the head, lips all grotesque and swollen to one side and a white suit distressed in green provides instant chills both in daylight and especially later as night descends. Elsewhere the costume is highly eclectic from Edwardian hunting tweeds to club kids wearing metallics and sequins. A really great touch is the doomed toadies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who come crashing their way into the plot wearing flat caps and Barber jackets – the detail is so spot on -right down to their Hunters wellies.

This production of Hamlet is set in a near future dictatorship where undeniably “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. Video screens (with provocative, edgy and multi-layered content by Helga Dorothea) carry messages from the state (cheekily including slogans such as “strong and stable government”) and Hamlet Skypes from the cliffs of Dover like a YouTube influencer. Huge banners in black and red (surely the preferred colours of tyranny throughout the ages) hang from the buildings. In fact set designer Mike Leopold has responded to the open air space with great skill, using simple pillars and drapes to create intimate domestic interiors or bulky timber platforms to create the bleak walls of the castle or the graveyard, all the while a huge gold statue of the dead King hangs over the proceedings (both literally and figuratively) like the sword of Damocles.

It is the casting however, that is the truly radical element here. There is the (increasingly common) cross gender casting of various smaller roles which adds an extra dimension to many relationships. For example when Polonius (played with great humour with a deep stripe of viciousness by Paula James) chides Ophelia (played by the amazingly versatile Jenny Horsthuis) Polonius gives her such a slap that it leaves the audience dazed too. How does the casting of a female actor into the traditionally male role of Polonius alter this act of violence? Does it mitigate it or highlight it?

The title role is taken bynon-binary transgender actor Jenet Le Lacheur. Their best scenes are the intimate and the reflective soliloquies in which they hold the audience transfixed, managing to carry you along and take you through every twist and turn of their characters tortured mind. Hamlet’s obsession with female sexuality is well documented but when Le Lacheur utters “Frailty thy name is woman” it’s an electric moment and full of new connotations.

As Hamlet says, if the purpose of theatre is to “hold a mirror up to nature” then this colourful, diverse and inclusive contemporary show does just that – a glorious production for our times.

https://iristheatre.com/event/hamlet/    Until July 27th

REVIEW : JONNY WARD

Jonny Ward, Queerguru Contributing Editor is a drama graduate but has worked backstage for many years at venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, The 02, Southbank Centre and is currently at The National Theatre. He lives in Hoxton, London and is delighted to check out the latest, the hottest and the downright dodgy in queer culture for Queerguru. (P.S. He is currently single)  @JonnyWard360