Hamlet at its best - Thursday 8th January 2009

90th RSC performance of Hamlet (my 27th - DT's 69th)

Photo from Monday 5/1/09 - unknown photographer

This was the 27th time I've seen David Tennant in Hamlet and out of all of those, I think this was the best performance that I've seen! It's hard to remember exactly how good a performance was back in, say, September (which is one of the reasons that I'm keeping this diary) but I don't remember such an emotional version before. In fact I heard Gregory Doran (who I happened to see tonight on my way to the theatre!) has said that David had brought something more to the role since he had been off and I totally agree.

My day started with reading those absolutely brilliant press reviews (which I'll copy in later). They said things like it was the best Hamlet of this generation!

My seat tonight was in the 6th row of the stalls and is the row that starts banking so I had a perfect view over everybody's heads and was close enough to be able to see the actors' eyes and all their expressions really clearly.

David Tennant was moving far better again tonight – I can see the improvement from day to day! Tonight he used the bedhead to get up on the bed the first time but after that he was stepping up and down unaided. He also managed to lie lengthways across the grave on one hand which he hasn’t attempted before. I also noticed that in the sword-fight, the other actors were holding him more tightly. He does tend not to kneel down equally on both knees but will favour one side or the other but he gets down and up quite easily. I think the time I realised that he’s really getting better was that for the first time I could hear David thudding up the wings of the stage ready for one of his entrances! In Stratford (if you knew when to listen) you could often hear him thudding around behind the seats (he’s fast but quite heavy on his feet) but since they’ve moved to the Novello, he’s had to walk more gingerly but tonight the thudding was back!

The other thing that helped to make this such a great performance was that it was a brilliant audience! The performance tonight was longer than normal due to all the laughing! For example, after the “Where’s Polonius?”, “In Heaven!” lines, Patrick Stewart had to walk around the stage a bit to wait for the laughter to subside! Sometimes when Hamlet says about the people watching the play, he has to indicate us before people laugh but not tonight! There was even laughter in parts where the lines aren’t particularly funny but David Tennant reacts that way for example when Horatio tells him that he saw his father last night.

That whole scene has grown on me so much since 24th July and it’s mainly due to all the reactions that Hamlet does on hearing the amazing news. David Tennant has really improved the way he plays this particular part of the play and it’s so impressive.

The “Now I am alone” soliloquy is another highlight of Hamlet for me and David Tennant really puts his whole body into it. Whereas in other productions, I’ve seen, Hamlet will just deliver the lines, DT’s version uses all the stage (and kneels and falls on the ground) which is so emotional.

There was one small mistake on stage tonight as DT forgot to take the tray off the page (Zoe Thorne) so he just pushed the crown on his head and when it came to the “grass grows” part, he used his hand in an upright movement to indicate grass.

Afterwards I went to the stage door (as I had 25 minutes before my next train). Tonight David Tennant took probably half an hour to come out by which time quite a few people had left (as it was bitterly cold). It’s easy to tell when he’s going to come out as the car (a light coloured one tonight) positions itself outside the door. I’ve always just watched on the other side of the road but tonight lots of people went across so I joined them to watch. David signed a nice lot of autographs tonight and was really friendly with everyone (as usual!).

I know I’m different to a lot of people in that I don’t collect autographs plus I’m not one for standing ovations, but tonight (for the first time in the run) I did get to my feet during the applause as I thought it was so brilliant tonight!

Next performance for me: tomorrow (Friday 9th)!

Hamlet - Friday 9th January 2009

91st RSC performance of Hamlet (my 28th - DT's 70th)

Photo from Monday 5/1/09 - unknown photographer

Unfortunately I didn’t think that this was one of the best performances tonight. It was certainly good but not as great as last night’s or others that I’ve seen in Stratford.

I had a seat in the second row of the Dress Circle (which is the first level) and I was surprised to see that there were 3 empty seats at the end of the row. Obviously they were sold but it was disappointing that there was no way of letting fans use them out of the 20+ queue of people waiting for returns at 7.00pm.

David Tennant was moving really well again tonight. It’s amazing to think that it’s only just 4 weeks since he had his operation and it was supposed to be a 6 week recovery period. He still doesn’t kneel straight as often as he used to but he did the sword-fight as energetically as he always has and even ran off stage once in the bows. He got up and down from the bed without holding onto anything and leant back a fair bit for the “Pocket” line. He is still kissing Guildenstern (rather than running between the guard’s legs) but tonight he jumped up briefly before he did it.

There was one really big mistake on stage tonight in one of the final scenes as they missed out several lines when Hamlet and Horatio are talking to Orssis! The “very responsive to the hilts” (and following physical actions!) were missing.

At the start of that scene, for some reason, David Tennant came out on stage holding something white in his left hand. He also kept that hand in his jeans pocket a lot and then obviously put it in his pocket but a few times in that scene he quietly looked at his hand so I don’t know if he had cut it or something.

I saw Bernard Cribbins during the interval – some people were getting his autograph as he was queuing to buy an ice cream!

The bedroom scene was really good tonight. Both Penny Downie and David Tennant acted it very strongly and it has a whole plethora of emotions and turns in that scene!

Afterwards I went to the stage door and there were loads of people there! David Tennant came out after about 20 minutes (he got into a red car tonight) and signed loads of autographs! He was probably there for 5 minutes or so and went backwards and forwards to both sides of the barrier.

Next performance for me: tomorrow (Saturday 10th)!

Hamlet - Tuesday 6th January 2009

88th RSC performance of Hamlet (my 26th - DT's 67th)

Photo from 5th January - unknown photographer

I really enjoyed tonight's performance as I could concentrate more on the acting and less on worrying about David 's back! I had a good seat as it was right in the middle of the Dress Circle (5th row) and the seats there are banked so nothing was blocking my view of any of the stage. It was close enough to be able to see their faces okay but I did use my binoculars for a couple of parts of my favourite scenes or scenes where I like the facial expressions.

David was moving well enough. I think he was about the same as last night, not running much and holding onto things when he gets up. I get the impression that it's the jolting that he doesn't like.

The big news is that Polonius stayed dead all the time and was dragged off stage as DT exited (not by him I would hope).

David Tennant’s acting was really good tonight, especially in the first few scenes and he slapped (gently) Keith's face and then R & G's faces later too which was different! I didn't hear him get any of the words wrong tonight.

One part that David Tennant has added since his return after his operation is when Horatio say that he saw Hamlet’s father the previous night, David’s first reaction is just to raise his eyebrows (or one of them) which usually makes the audience laugh but is a perfect reaction on hearing that your friend is claiming that they’ve seen someone who is dead!

He came out very quickly to the stage door...maybe 8 minutes after the play ended, thankfully about a minute after I arrived! There was a people-carrier right up by the gap in the barrier but people were both sides of the barrier (in and out), especially at least 4 pap photographers. Their cameras lit him for several seconds before they took the photo which was great for me seeing him from the other side of the road! He signed for quite a while, maybe as long as he used to in Stratford as he crossed from side to side a bit.

Next performance for me: Thursday 8th!

I get to see David Tennant back in Hamlet - Monday 5th January 2009!

87th RSC performance of Hamlet (my 25th - DT's 66th)

Photo from stage door tonight - unknown photographer

A week ago I really did not think that I'd actually be seeing David Tennant again in Hamlet so I was really excited about tonight! I had a seat in row N of the stalls (in the middle as I bought this through the RSC when tickets first went on sale to RSC members). It was a good seat other than during the scene when the Ghost talks to Hamlet as the head of the person in front blocked my view so I watched DT's reflection in the mirror and Patrick Stewart's face.

David Tennant was moving a lot better than I expected and it seemed to me that he just tried not to jolt his back too much so he held onto things to climb up on the wicker basket and later the bed and did not run. However as he walks quite fast, it just meant that he moved at about the same speed as the average person!

Another couple of changes were that he didn't drag Polonius's body off the stage (which personally I think added to his back injury as he didn't lean correctly) but as they've changed it (with Edward's performances too) that Oliver Ford Davies falls off stage so that just his feet are visible, someone else can easily pull him off. Unfortunately though tonight when it came to the part of Hamlet leaving the stage, Polonius was already gone. Either there is life after death or they didn't think that through properly!

Another change was that in the scene that starts "Safely stowed" and talks about being a sponge, instead of DT running off through one of the guard's legs, he ran in the opposite direction and kissed Guildenstern (Tom Davey) quickly full on the lips!

The sword fight seemed almost the same other than when people pull him away from Laeretes, they were hardly holding on to him - I would guess not to pull him his back and skin too much.

The other change was that Hamlet dragged Polonius across the stage with him behind him and not along the ground horizontally and falling over him. It was erroneously reported in some newspapers that he used a lighter weight because of his back but he has never carried Oliver Ford Davies at that part and it's always been a dummy in the carpet! He carried the body down one walkway, across the stage and back up another walkway in Stratford so there's no way that David Tennant could have done that however fit he was and no way that Oliver would have wanted to have been dragged all that distance!

Apart from that, the rest of the play was hardly changed and David Tennant certainly stood, walked around the stage and knelt as much as ever, although I did notice than often he would not be quite down on both knees for as long. The part that impressed me was just before the "Words, words, words" part when he just crouched down onto his haunches with no wobble whatsoever and later got straight back up again!

I really think it's a real testament to his work ethic and love of live stage that he has come back for the final 7 performances when lots of other actors would have stayed off. I also think it's good for him to get some closure in the part that he's been thinking about for over 18 months.

David Tennant's acting in the first couple of scenes was really powerful and very emotional. He played the miserable Hamlet as though he was very near to tears which was very effective and a great contrast to the mad Hamlet that comes later. He also delivered some of the lines differently to how he has before so I wondered if that was because he had been thinking about the part a lot when he was off or if it was due to his recent experiences.

I did hear one mistake that DT made as he said "airs from heaven, or blasts from heaven" instead of "airs from heaven, or blasts from hell"!

For the "Am I a coward?" line, David came to the front of the stage and left a very long pause before the "Who calls me villain?" line which was effective.

After the play we went to the stage door but stood on the other side of the road to watch. I really think they've set that up badly (it was so much better in Stratford and on the first night when he used the other door) as so few people can actually get autographs but they expect people to stay behind the barriers on a public street! DT came out after about 15 minutes and they already had a light coloured car in place by the barriers. Unfortunately there was a pap photographer there who disregarded the barriers and that meant that a few other people stood at the gap too.

All in all, it was brilliant to see David Tennant back on stage again - I really doubted that we'd see that in this run!

Next performance for me: tomorrow (Tuesday 6th)!

Edward Bennet in Hamlet - Thursday 11th December 2008

68th RSC performance of Hamlet (my 23rd)

I missed the performance of Hamlet last night for a number of reasons, mainly the fact that I had a bad cold and felt really rough. My seat was in the stalls (although not a great view) and I managed to find someone who was delighted to have it. Instead I was in bed by 11.00pm!

Last night too the news came through that David Tennant was going to have an operation on his back today. It put things into perspective. On Tuesday night I was down as what (IMHO) should have been David Tennant's moment of triumph (great London press reviews) he was laid up with a bad back, but last night it brought it home that acting is "only" a job and health is more important.

Tonight I had a second row seat and I didn't feel as rough so a friend and I went. Thankfully no cough has developed yet and I was very careful to only blow my nose at the end of each scene which was just as well as during the reception scene, Patrick Stewart actually stopped and repeated a line as someone was coughing badly at the point!

I thought Edward Bennet as Hamlet was a lot better than on Monday night. He didn't gabble his lines as much but I just prefer David Tennant's interpretation. DT plays a more depressed Hamlet at the start and then a maniac one but Edward seems to just play him as angry all the way through, whereas with David he plays two different characters.

Edward says "your philosophy" whereas DT had switched (quite early in the run) to saying "our philosophy".

Edward's first line is different to how I've always known it (and how DT says it) as I've always known it to be "A little more than kin and less than kind" but EB puts the word "of" in the line somewhere.

Tonight, instead of "although I am native here and to the manor born", EB said "although I am to the manor born and native here" which is not how he said it on Monday.

EB seems more hesitant of using the match so they lit a light under the bed. Often David Tennant will hold the match for a minute or so. I;m always worried that he;s going to burn his fingers!

Tom Davey is just brilliant as Laeretes (personally I think he's better in the part than Edward) but Ricky Champ looks uncomfortable as Guildenstern to me.

EB in the red T-shirt does nothing for me!

The only clothes EB wears that are different from when DT plays it is in the final scenes when DT will wear a white vest with a blue shirt over it that he does up and tucks into his trousers on stage. Ed wears a blue stripped shirt with nothing underneath that he leaves untucked and even rolls up his sleeves.

The parts I think EB does better are the musical bits! If ever there's a musical version of Hamlet I think EB would get the part over DT! EB whistles far louder than DT and he plays the recorder right-handed. On a more serious note, I think the way he "drags" Ophelia around the stage by her hair in the nunnery scene is very effective.

I think Patrick Stewart is acting far better now!

Hamlet Press Night - 9th December 2008

I booked my seat for tonight's Hamlet Press Night through the RSC postal application over a year ago so I had quite a good seat.

Unfortunately I started a cold yesterday and I felt rough all day today. At about 4.00pm I saw that someone had posted online that they had heard on the radio that David Tennant would not be playing in Hamlet tonight.

I rang the Box Office to check and was told that they were waiting to hear either way and then he asked me to hang on and confirmed that they had just heard that he wouldn't be playing.

I felt really sorry for David Tennant as a Press Night for Hamlet in London is a really big deal so I wasn't surprised to hear that the official press release said that he was "gutted". I just hope that he recovers soon and I'm optimistically hanging on to the hope that as he cancelled quite late, he may be able to play again later this week (ideally for me tomorrow!).

As I felt rough, I gave my ticket to someone I work with who was keen to see Hamlet so it went to a good home

No David Tennant in Hamlet tonight - Monday 8th December 2008

65th RSC performance of Hamlet (my 22nd)

I'm sure I'm going to be totally shattered by the end of the week, with working 11 hours each day, going to Hamlet in the evening, not getting home until 12.15am and then getting up at 6.00am to do it all again the next day but equally I'm sure that I'm gong to look back at what a brilliant, fun time I've had this week!

Originally I was "only" going on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week but then some front row seats came up on the Novello website for Wednesday and a friend dropped out of meeting up tonight at the same time that they had front row in the Grand Circle on the site so I decided to go again tonight as it'll give me a good chance to try out my new binoculars!

Unfortunately when I got to the theatre, there were signs to say that David Tennant had hurt his back and would be unable to perform tonight so instead Edward Bennett would be playing Hamlet instead which meant that Tom Davey would play Laertes and the guy who plays one of the “spear-carriers” would play Guildenstern. I tossed about whether or not to go in (as I’m starting a cold) but, as I was disappointed that I’d missed the understudy performance of the play in Stratford, I decided to attend and I was glad that I had.

First of all, Gregory Doran came out to explain that DT had hurt his back and had battled through Friday and Saturday nights performances and then explained that this was Edward’s first performance as Hamlet. (A friend later mentioned that she wondered if tonight’s cancellation was more precautionary as the Press Night is tomorrow evening.)

I had to remind myself that Edward was playing his version of Hamlet and not David Tennant’s version but despite that, I thought he was still better than the guy who played Hamlet in Bristol. Personally though I thought he was eclipsed by Tom Davey stepping into Laertes’ shoes. I’ve never been too impressed by Edward’s portray as Laertes as I thought he was rather flat but I thought Tom brought him much more to life and played him with more passion.

Edward did gabble rather through all the speeches (which I know is a sign of nerves), for example the “To be or not to be” speech he must have done in just over a minute and the “Too, too solid flesh” speech he delivered in an angry way rather than a depressed one.

There were a few mistakes though, the most obvious of which was that Hamlet did not light the match after he had shot Polonius so the stage was all in darkness as they continued the scene! Eventually someone off stage turned a light on before Hamlet turned on the light switch behind the bedside cabinet!

Hamlet also missed out a lot of his speech about Denmark being a prison and there were a few other slips like him actually joining in the drink at the celebration and saying a few words wrong during the play within the play, plus not wearing the crown off stage after the play so he couldn’t wear it in the bedroom scene.

Tonight Hamlet reverted to “your philosophy” and not “our philosophy” as David Tennant has been saying.

Hamlet dragged Ophelia round the stage by her hair a bit in the nunnery scene.

Country was said as one word tonight!

The sword fight was slightly stilted but I thought Edward did really well considering he was doing the opposite moves to how he usually plays it.

At the end of the play (about 5 minutes earlier than normal due to the pace!), Edward received a massive round of applause and it was nice to see that the theatre was still quite full.

I didn’t use the binoculars as much as I would have if David Tennant had been playing hamlet but they certainly brought their faces into clear view from the Grand Circle!

Next performance for me: Tuesday (9th)!