QotD: Time Travel

If you could travel to any place and time for one week, where would you go?

I'm sure I've answered this question before but as I was thinking about this recently I'm going to answer it again.

The performance I missed

I wouldn't need a whole week but I would love to go back to London, April 2004 and see Ben Whishaw play Hamlet at the Old Vic.

I hadn't rediscovered the joy of theatre then and I've read so much about his performance that I would dearly love to go back in time and see it.

What fascinates me about it most is that he was a young actor playing Hamlet, which is so rare on the professional stage. Hamlet is supposed to be a 23-year old student but most often played by actors who are 30+ or sometimes pushing 40. Whishaw was 23 and fresh out of drama school.

Now there is nothing fundamentally wrong with older actors playing Hamlet but I think Whishaw's youth would have brought an interesting new angle to the performance. One review said:

Not only is this a masterful production but also we witness what will surely prove to be one of the most talked about performance’s of Hamlet for many a decade. 

As I've said, what I wouldn't give to have seen it and if I had a week I'd probably see it more than once.

Next week I'm getting my annual Hamlet fix at the Wyndham's Theatre. This time Jude Law is stepping into the Dane's shoes. I've already written quite a bit about my expectations so won't repeat but add that I've heard good things from colleagues who've been to see it,  so maybe I'm being a bit mean. We'll see.