Hamlet - Friday 19th September

38th Performance of Hamlet (my 8th)

I booked a seat for tomorrow's matinee performance as soon as the RSC online booking opened. I then managed to get a ticket for Midnight Summer's Night Dream for tomorrow evening recently from the RSC too but about a week ago somebody posted online that they had a pair of tickets spare for tonight's performance. As they were selling them for face value and my friend was already going to be in Stratford tonight we leapt at the chance of having them!

I worked in the morning and drove up afterwards. The traffic was a bit heavy (as it was a Friday) but I had time to stop for a late lunch at my usual place - they even know what I like now!

I got to Stratford at about 6.40pm and parked in the convenient place I found on 5th September. I discovered that Roderick Smith (who plays Voltemand, the Captain, the Doctor and the Play Prologue) lives in that road as I was using his drive to reverse into as he came out!

Our seats were right over the stage in the first row of the circle and I wish I had sat there before as they were brilliant seats! The thing that struck me the most was how brilliant David Tennant's facial expressions were during the whole play! That was especially apparent during the scene when Horatio tells him that they saw the ghost of his father the previous evening. He went from shock to disbelief to amazement all in one movement - it was just brilliant to watch!

From where we were sitting we could see the actors walking along parts of the walkways (behind the audience) at various times.

As DT walked off stage from the part when Hamlet decides not to stab Claudius, he knocked the beside lamp off the table that was waiting in the wings! A hand came from behind the curtain and picked it up!

From where we were sitting we could see the letters that are read on stage. I couldn't read the exact words but I noticed that when Polonius read the one from Hamlet to Ophelia he certainly read out more words than were written on the piece of paper! However, when Claudius read the two letters that Hamlet wrote (one to him and one to his mother) certainly the second letter had one additional word at the end of it!

One part that really impressed me was that in one part of the play Gertrude turns her back to most of the audience and reads a sheet of paper that her "secretary" gives her. At this point Penny Downie is probably only facing about 20 people and yet her eyes followed the lines on the paper exactly as though she was reading it for the first time!

During the bedroom scene David Tennant almost fell off the bed so he stepped off and then stepped back on again!

As the mirrors opened for the second scene (just after they've all waved) we could see from our seats a glimpse of the shattered mirror reflected in another mirror!

After Hamlet lit the match tonight to look at Polonius the match didn't stay alight for very long tonight!

DT threw the letters all over the stage tonight. So much so that even Rosencrantz picked up part of one later in the play.

At the end of the play, when the lights were all down, the guy next to me said a whisper loud enough to be a stage whisper "they've missed out the end part"!

Patrick Stewart's voice was better today although he did cough during one of his lines.

The sword fighting was spectacular tonight looking at it from above!

I could see David Tennant's face during the play within the play part today and he mouths the words that the poisoner says (presumably the extra part that Hamlet wrote in). Tonight he was also taping on his chest in time to the music.

It was fascinating watching DT during the Pirus speech tonight as he just sat there totally wrapped up in the words watching the actor.

Before the performance started we tried to work out where the grave would open but we couldn't see the join at all. It was actually a lot deeper than we expected too. As the gravedigger was laughing so much at one point, he managed to move the outside of the grave a bit.

The audience were really great tonight and laughed a lot, so much so that at times the actors had to wait before they could deliver their next line!

As we left the theatre there were at least three tables set up for dinner upstairs and my friend told me later that there were no barriers up at the stage door so it was obvious that there would be no signing tonight.

We stayed at a motel nearby but I really struggled to sleep as I was still quite wired from seeing such a great performance tonight so close-up!

Next performance of Hamlet for me: Saturday 20th September (tomorrow!!!)