Despite my initial reservations about Jude Law playing Hamlet, I was actually quite excited by the time Tuesday arrived. So I settled in my front row seat (benefits of booking 18 months in advance) with Jen to one side and Spike's empty seat to the other* and it was show time.
And Law didn't disappoint. He played his Hamlet with an anger that had veins pulsating in his neck, sweat pouring down his brow and spit flying from his mouth (the one disadvantage of being on the front row when he is delivering a soliloquy at the front of the stage).
And the rest of the production? Well Penelope Wilton nailed Getrude, Ron Cook as Polonius didn't milk the comedy in his part enough (although that may be partly down to cuts in his speeches) something the RSC did very well and Ophelia, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw was the weakest link. Just didn't connect with the character at all. She was too sensible and straight in the first half to make her descent into madness in the second half believable. She has a beautiful sweet singing voice but I don't think that really suited someone who's properly lost their marbles.
There weren't as many theatricals in the production as the RSC's (cracking mirrors, playing king being hoisted up ghost like into the ceiling etc), the set of towering stone castle walls with huge sliding doors gave the stage a suitably cold and bleak feel and there was a shower of snow in one scene so convincing it made me shiver.
Michael Grandage, who directed, has trimmed the script back to make it shorter which I don't object to as I think Hamlet can be a little long.
But what is my verdict, Tennant/RSC or Law/Donmar? Sorry Law you were much, much better than I expected and very enjoyable to watch but I didn't come out of the theatre thinking I'd just seen something historic like Tennants.
And what did the pro's think?
Daily Telegraph: "Law...joins the modern pantheon of spellbinding sweet princes
with a performance of rare vulnerability and emotional openness."
Guardian: "Law doesn't have the sardonic wit of David Tennant, or the
philosophical fluency of Jamie Ballard in Jonathan Miller's recent
Tobacco Factory production, but he makes a Hamlet who truly discovers
himself."
West End Whingers: "The Whingers also found themselves getting very sad about their
inability carry off a cardigan which Jude Law can do depressingly well."
*Spike got stuck up in York where he'd been for work and because he had his ticket with him the box office couldn't resell it, which was frustrating not because of the money lost but because there was a long queue of people desperate for returns and it was such a good seat to waste. Fortunately a chap who'd been sitting somewhere up in the gods spotted the empty seat during the first half and snuck down during the interval and asked if he could take it. Jen and I were glad to oblige.:"