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!
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
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
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
Monday, 8 December 2008
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)!
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Hamlet Front Row Centre - Saturday 6th December 2008
64th performance of Hamlet (my 21st)
Photo not from tonight
I was really lucky again with these tickets as I happened to be online on Thursday when they added Row B in the stalls so I snapped up 2 for tonight as a friend really wanted to go and I certainly didn't mind going again! My seat tonight was slightly more central than last night (but I think I preferred last night's seat as more happens on stage left).
David Tennant was back to crouching and sitting even more on stage tonight. There were some fans of his beside me who had been told that it was because he had a bad back but I think it's also because there's less room to move around so he uses up and down more. The way he moved around certainly didn't look as though there was anything too seriously wrong with his back. I just think he's also trying out different ways of doing things in this theatre.
Once again David Tennant crouched into a ball at the beginning of the reception scene and stood for the "Seems Madam" speech. Patrick Stewart seems to take a delight in really slapping DT's arms at the end of that scene, almost as though he's trying to make him spill his wine!
Penny Downie's cold seemed a bit better tonight although you could hear her coughing off stage before the scene when she tells them that Ophelia has drowned. Again tonight Hamlet stroked her hair at the end of the bedroom scene and the kissed her on the head rather than on the lips.
You can hear far more clearly here what Hamlet says when they are going around the stage swearing on the sword. I could never really make out the words clearly in Stratford but I can here in London.
Tonight DT did all the "To be or not to be" speech on his knees. He used to use all his body to look uncomfortable and depressed but tonight I could only see his torso and face and he managed to convey exactly the same thing which is very impressive. He talks to the whole audience (and this is a very high theatre) and his eyes constantly look all around which encompasses everybody.
I think my favourite part tonight was during the play scene as just for a second DT looked directly at me!
The "Now I am alone" speech was just fantastic tonight! DT used all the stage and really got into it. When I've seen other actors perform that speech, there's been hardly any reaction when they've talked about people sitting at a play but when DT plays it, there's always a nervous twitter that goes around the crowd!
In the bedroom scene when Gertrude knocked the lamp off the bedside table and it falls on the ground, there was about a second delay before they switched the lamp off tonight!
Tonight from where I was sitting I could see DT peeping through the curtain to check that Polonius's body was in position and then he just crept out as Claudius ended his speech before he dragged it across the stage.
There were a couple of mistakes on stage tonight that I noticed:
Laertes didn't have the unction with him so he just mentioned it.
Hamlet moved away from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern too early and then realised that he had to walk around Polonius with them so he walked backwards as they walked forwards instead of having his arms around their shoulders.
I also noticed that tonight DT played his recorder left-handed (i.e. with his left hand highest).
Tonight DT did most of the eggshell speech on his knees. That's one speech that I still struggle to understand (it's the only speech in the play that I really don't know by heart).
As DT exited the stage after the graveyard scene he tripped over his rucksack so that he landed on it and Horatio helped him up to get it off stage in time to get changed. (This was behind the side curtain so was out of view of most people.)
When Hamlet was cut on the neck, as DT pulled his hand away, I noticed that the vial that had held the blood was still caught on his hand so he flicked that across the stage out of sight!
Tonight Edward Bennett (who plays Laertes) did the speech at the end of the bows about the AIDS collection.
I had to walk past the stage door to catch my train and I saw that they had the barriers set the same way as on Thursday so I doubt that many people will have got autographs. I didn't bother staying as I wouldn't have been able to see much of his interaction.
David Tennant was back to crouching and sitting even more on stage tonight. There were some fans of his beside me who had been told that it was because he had a bad back but I think it's also because there's less room to move around so he uses up and down more. The way he moved around certainly didn't look as though there was anything too seriously wrong with his back. I just think he's also trying out different ways of doing things in this theatre.
Once again David Tennant crouched into a ball at the beginning of the reception scene and stood for the "Seems Madam" speech. Patrick Stewart seems to take a delight in really slapping DT's arms at the end of that scene, almost as though he's trying to make him spill his wine!
Penny Downie's cold seemed a bit better tonight although you could hear her coughing off stage before the scene when she tells them that Ophelia has drowned. Again tonight Hamlet stroked her hair at the end of the bedroom scene and the kissed her on the head rather than on the lips.
You can hear far more clearly here what Hamlet says when they are going around the stage swearing on the sword. I could never really make out the words clearly in Stratford but I can here in London.
Tonight DT did all the "To be or not to be" speech on his knees. He used to use all his body to look uncomfortable and depressed but tonight I could only see his torso and face and he managed to convey exactly the same thing which is very impressive. He talks to the whole audience (and this is a very high theatre) and his eyes constantly look all around which encompasses everybody.
I think my favourite part tonight was during the play scene as just for a second DT looked directly at me!
The "Now I am alone" speech was just fantastic tonight! DT used all the stage and really got into it. When I've seen other actors perform that speech, there's been hardly any reaction when they've talked about people sitting at a play but when DT plays it, there's always a nervous twitter that goes around the crowd!
In the bedroom scene when Gertrude knocked the lamp off the bedside table and it falls on the ground, there was about a second delay before they switched the lamp off tonight!
Tonight from where I was sitting I could see DT peeping through the curtain to check that Polonius's body was in position and then he just crept out as Claudius ended his speech before he dragged it across the stage.
There were a couple of mistakes on stage tonight that I noticed:
Laertes didn't have the unction with him so he just mentioned it.
Hamlet moved away from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern too early and then realised that he had to walk around Polonius with them so he walked backwards as they walked forwards instead of having his arms around their shoulders.
I also noticed that tonight DT played his recorder left-handed (i.e. with his left hand highest).
Tonight DT did most of the eggshell speech on his knees. That's one speech that I still struggle to understand (it's the only speech in the play that I really don't know by heart).
As DT exited the stage after the graveyard scene he tripped over his rucksack so that he landed on it and Horatio helped him up to get it off stage in time to get changed. (This was behind the side curtain so was out of view of most people.)
When Hamlet was cut on the neck, as DT pulled his hand away, I noticed that the vial that had held the blood was still caught on his hand so he flicked that across the stage out of sight!
Tonight Edward Bennett (who plays Laertes) did the speech at the end of the bows about the AIDS collection.
I had to walk past the stage door to catch my train and I saw that they had the barriers set the same way as on Thursday so I doubt that many people will have got autographs. I didn't bother staying as I wouldn't have been able to see much of his interaction.
Next performance for me: Monday (8th)!
Friday, 5 December 2008
Front row seeing David Tennant in Hamlet - 5th December 2008!
63rd performance of Hamlet (my 20th)
Photo not from tonight
I was really lucky with these tickets as I happened to be online yesterday when they added Row B in the stalls and made that the front row instead of row C! I'd read that the front of the stage is high but I didn't think it was. It was just like watching a massive television screen when you can see every movement and all their facial expressions - it was just brilliant!
I felt really sorry for Penny Downie tonight as she was obviously really struggling with a cold. A couple of time her voice cracked and she had to cough but she still gave a great performance. At the end though you could see in her eyes that she was totally full of cold and felt rough. During the scene where Ophelia has gone mad and is giving out the flowers, I would imagine that all the other actors have been told not to move and let's just say that it was quite revolting watching Penny at that part! I noticed too that instead of kissing her on the lips as Hamlet usually does at the end of the bedroom scene, tonight he gently stroked her hair and kissed her on the head.
David Tennant is definitely using the height of the stage far more than in Stratford. I don't know if it's because the stage is a quarter smaller than at The Courtyard, but he is sitting and crouching on stage far more than he used to. It's almost as though there's less room to move around so he uses up and down more.
The first instance of this was when Hamlet first walked on stage at the reception scene. In Stratford DT would stand with his back facing some of the audience (in London it would be all the audience) while Claudius speaks. Tonight David Tennant crouched down during all of that, just holding his glass and looking at the floor. It's very effective as it's at a royal reception with ambassadors and other important people and the depressed Hamlet is just crouching in a ball! (It also meant that I was in the lucky position of having him directly in my eye level for about 5 minutes!) I was very impressed at this point that he could stay in that position as it must be so hard on his knees and thighs!
Tonight David Tennant's expressions in the scene with Horatio (when he's told about him seeing the ghost) was just brilliant! At first he was more emotional than he sometimes has been about losing his father (the "we will not see his like again" part) and then his facial expressions when Horatio told him that he had seen his father's ghost was just amazing! You could just read all his thoughts at that point. The friend I went with said that she had never seen any of David Tennant's acting before but she was totally amazed at how good he is!
Tonight I was watching DT's expressions a lot during the ghost's speech and he really reacts to everything the ghost says, even though there'll be a limited number of people who can see his face at that point.
I went with a friend who said that she knew Hamlet so she asked me during the interval how they were going to get around it as Hamlet had just killed Claudius in the middle of the play! I explained that they had gone to the interval halfway through the scene.
Tonight from where I was sitting I saw DT come out from behind the curtain quite early to get into position ton drag "Polonius's body" across the stage so he had to crouch there out of sight of most people.
I felt really sorry for Penny Downie tonight as she was obviously really struggling with a cold. A couple of time her voice cracked and she had to cough but she still gave a great performance. At the end though you could see in her eyes that she was totally full of cold and felt rough. During the scene where Ophelia has gone mad and is giving out the flowers, I would imagine that all the other actors have been told not to move and let's just say that it was quite revolting watching Penny at that part! I noticed too that instead of kissing her on the lips as Hamlet usually does at the end of the bedroom scene, tonight he gently stroked her hair and kissed her on the head.
David Tennant is definitely using the height of the stage far more than in Stratford. I don't know if it's because the stage is a quarter smaller than at The Courtyard, but he is sitting and crouching on stage far more than he used to. It's almost as though there's less room to move around so he uses up and down more.
The first instance of this was when Hamlet first walked on stage at the reception scene. In Stratford DT would stand with his back facing some of the audience (in London it would be all the audience) while Claudius speaks. Tonight David Tennant crouched down during all of that, just holding his glass and looking at the floor. It's very effective as it's at a royal reception with ambassadors and other important people and the depressed Hamlet is just crouching in a ball! (It also meant that I was in the lucky position of having him directly in my eye level for about 5 minutes!) I was very impressed at this point that he could stay in that position as it must be so hard on his knees and thighs!
Tonight David Tennant's expressions in the scene with Horatio (when he's told about him seeing the ghost) was just brilliant! At first he was more emotional than he sometimes has been about losing his father (the "we will not see his like again" part) and then his facial expressions when Horatio told him that he had seen his father's ghost was just amazing! You could just read all his thoughts at that point. The friend I went with said that she had never seen any of David Tennant's acting before but she was totally amazed at how good he is!
Tonight I was watching DT's expressions a lot during the ghost's speech and he really reacts to everything the ghost says, even though there'll be a limited number of people who can see his face at that point.
I went with a friend who said that she knew Hamlet so she asked me during the interval how they were going to get around it as Hamlet had just killed Claudius in the middle of the play! I explained that they had gone to the interval halfway through the scene.
Tonight from where I was sitting I saw DT come out from behind the curtain quite early to get into position ton drag "Polonius's body" across the stage so he had to crouch there out of sight of most people.
One funny thing that happened was that Gertrude called out asking what the noise of the rebellion was before the noise was actually made!
At the end of the bows Keith Osborn walked forward and explained that they were doing the collection for AIDS sufferers (as lots of theatres are this week) and that there would be collection buckets at all the exits. I found his speech especially poignant as he said that gave the statistics of how many people die of the disease and said that he had calculated that since they started the play that night equivalent to as many people as there were in the theatre would have died. That really brought it home to me.
I had to walk past the stage door to catch my train and I saw that they had the barriers set the same way as on Thursday so I doubt that many people will have got autographs. I didn't bother staying as the part I used to enjoy in Stratford was listening to his interaction with the crowd and I wouldn't have been able to have heard that.
Next performance for me: Tomorrow (6th)!
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Hamlet in London from the Grand Circle - 4th December 2008
62nd performance of Hamlet (my 19th)
Photo not from tonight
I had a total nightmare getting into Hamlet tonight! It's a long story but the solution was that I had to run back to the office and buy some tickets online and then collect them from the theatre 10 minutes later! We got seats in Row C of the Grand Circle (which is the third of the four levels) but they were slightly restricted viewing but for £10 we weren't too bothered and after the hassle to get the tickets, I was just glad to be there! It meant that we couldn't see the front of the stage on stage left so something like where Hamlet is watching the play within the play, we could only see David Tennant when he leaned forward.
Despite that it was a great performance again and I'm getting more used to it not being a thrust stage.
I think the first scene works better further away from the stage than it does in the stalls. The problem at the Novello is that they can't get it as dark as they could at The Courtyard. Here there are large fire exit signs that are illuminated so in the stalls you can see things like the ghost arriving instead of being surprised at its appearance with the actors. The other obvious thing in the stalls are the two extra actors who walk across the front of the stage. It worked really well at The Courtyard as it looked as though the ghost was exiting in all different places but in the stalls (at least at the front) it's obvious that two actors just walk across the stage. Up in the circles, with all the torches flashing around, it looks like just total confusion which is effective.
I thought David Tennant's "Too, too solid flesh" speech was just amazing tonight! He just put so much emotion into it. I always find that speech hard to "enjoy" (if that's the right word") as it's such a raw portrayal of the speech and I find that hard to watch but tonight especially you couldn't help but feel for Hamlet's grief and losing his father and his anger at what he considers is his mother's betrayal (and this is before he's told that his uncle killed his father). I think this must be one of the poignant speeches in any play and DT performs it amazingly.
Probably my favourite scene of the whole play is the bedroom scene but I also really like from the "To Be or not to be" speech right through to the end of the play within the play as DT is hardly off stage for that whole part! He hardly stops moving though that all and is very mesmerising!
Tonight the gravedigger didn't toss the skulls and jawbone out as far as he usually does, probably because there was a danger that they could fall off the edge of the stage if he tossed them as he did in Stratford!
Unfortunately a lot of the second half of the play was spoilt for me tonight as there were 6 people in 3 lots that had to leave early. Also the guy next to me had a coughing fit so had to get past me to get out (and then didn't realise that the loos really echo so we could still hear everything!) and someone's alarm or pager went off for about 5 minutes quite audibly!
At the end of the bows Oliver Ford Davies walked forward and explained that they were doing a collection for AIDS sufferers (as lots of theatres are this week) and that there would be collection buckets at all the exits.
Afterwards I went to the stage door (as I had just missed one train) to see what would happen tonight. I stood on the other side of the road (as I didn't want an autograph) and they kept all the fans back behind the barriers. Unlike Stratford when David Tennant usually came out within 5 minutes of the end of the play, tonight almost all the other actors came out first. Patrick Stewart went along one barrier signing autographs and some of the others did too but most just went off towards the underground station. Oliver Ford Davies received a massive cheer which was nice!
Just before DT was due to come out, a people carrier pulled up by the exit. When he came out there were probably 50 people on each side of the barriers but only the people nearest the door got an autograph so he probably only signed about 5 or 10 things. It's a shame that they're not using the exit he used last night as more people could get to him.
Despite that it was a great performance again and I'm getting more used to it not being a thrust stage.
I think the first scene works better further away from the stage than it does in the stalls. The problem at the Novello is that they can't get it as dark as they could at The Courtyard. Here there are large fire exit signs that are illuminated so in the stalls you can see things like the ghost arriving instead of being surprised at its appearance with the actors. The other obvious thing in the stalls are the two extra actors who walk across the front of the stage. It worked really well at The Courtyard as it looked as though the ghost was exiting in all different places but in the stalls (at least at the front) it's obvious that two actors just walk across the stage. Up in the circles, with all the torches flashing around, it looks like just total confusion which is effective.
I thought David Tennant's "Too, too solid flesh" speech was just amazing tonight! He just put so much emotion into it. I always find that speech hard to "enjoy" (if that's the right word") as it's such a raw portrayal of the speech and I find that hard to watch but tonight especially you couldn't help but feel for Hamlet's grief and losing his father and his anger at what he considers is his mother's betrayal (and this is before he's told that his uncle killed his father). I think this must be one of the poignant speeches in any play and DT performs it amazingly.
Probably my favourite scene of the whole play is the bedroom scene but I also really like from the "To Be or not to be" speech right through to the end of the play within the play as DT is hardly off stage for that whole part! He hardly stops moving though that all and is very mesmerising!
Tonight the gravedigger didn't toss the skulls and jawbone out as far as he usually does, probably because there was a danger that they could fall off the edge of the stage if he tossed them as he did in Stratford!
Unfortunately a lot of the second half of the play was spoilt for me tonight as there were 6 people in 3 lots that had to leave early. Also the guy next to me had a coughing fit so had to get past me to get out (and then didn't realise that the loos really echo so we could still hear everything!) and someone's alarm or pager went off for about 5 minutes quite audibly!
At the end of the bows Oliver Ford Davies walked forward and explained that they were doing a collection for AIDS sufferers (as lots of theatres are this week) and that there would be collection buckets at all the exits.
Afterwards I went to the stage door (as I had just missed one train) to see what would happen tonight. I stood on the other side of the road (as I didn't want an autograph) and they kept all the fans back behind the barriers. Unlike Stratford when David Tennant usually came out within 5 minutes of the end of the play, tonight almost all the other actors came out first. Patrick Stewart went along one barrier signing autographs and some of the others did too but most just went off towards the underground station. Oliver Ford Davies received a massive cheer which was nice!
Just before DT was due to come out, a people carrier pulled up by the exit. When he came out there were probably 50 people on each side of the barriers but only the people nearest the door got an autograph so he probably only signed about 5 or 10 things. It's a shame that they're not using the exit he used last night as more people could get to him.
Next performance for me: Tomorrow (5th)!
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
David Tennant in Hamlet (First Night in London) - Wednesday 3rd December
61st performance of Hamlet (my 18th)
I work near the Novello so I popped out of work today at about 9.30am (the doors apparently opened at 10.00am) to see what the queue for day tickets / returns was like and there were about 15-20 very cold people waiting outside.
I left work at about 7.00pm and there was a massive crowd outside the theatre waiting to get in as they were only letting a few people in at a time. The theatre is a real warren of a place as to get to my seat in the stalls I had to go down to the bar and turn left, then down some more steps, up some others, around a corner and then down some more! At this point the people in front of me were joking that we were going to end up on the Circle Line!
We came out at the front of the stalls. I'd bought my seat through the RSC postal system so I was in Row E which I understood was going to be the 4th row as we were told that rows A and B would be removed but row B was there. Not that it mattered as I still had a good view. The stage is a lot higher than in Stratford but I think that even in the front row you would be able to see okay unless you were very short. There was plenty of leg room and the theatre was a comfortable temperature (plus the loos were nice!).
However I did feel that the stage was cramped, at least compared to The Courtyard Theatre. For example in Stratford they had 8 chandeliers and 6 panes of glass at the back but at the Novello there is only room for 6 chandeliers and 4 and a half panes of glass, plus there is glass around parts of the side of the stage. I also really miss (as I knew I would) the actors using the walkways through the audience. Other than that, they had staged it pretty much as I expected except that the thrones were lowered into position (the bed was carried onto stage). Also it limited DT being able to run off stage as there's not much room between the edge of the stage and the wall! When he threw the book, he had to just drop it as there wasn't enough room and when the gravedigger throw one of the skulls out, I thought it was going to roll of the stage!
It was another great performance and you couldn't really tell that they hadn't played in front of an audience for 18 days! I thought David Tennant was especially strong tonight in his first few scenes - his expressions when he was told that they had seen the ghost was just amazing as he changed from surprise to astonishment to wonder all in a few seconds! (In that same scene I always like to see how he says the "very like, very like" line as sometimes the words are close together and sometimes he pauses - tonight was a pause!).
Due to the stage DT spoke right at the front of the stage more than in Stratford but he addressed all the levels in the theatre at different times. A lot of his "Now I am alone" speech was at the front and he ran along the front of the stage for the "gives me the lie in the throat" part.
Hamlet's "Too, too sold flesh" soliquee was especially good (and emotional) tonight but it was marred slightly by the walkie-talkie of one of the theatre staff crackling into life at the beginning of the speech!
There were a few mistakes that I noticed (I love live theatre!):
In the scene where Hamlet is told about the ghost and he's asking if they will be armed tonight, Hamlet is supposed to say "From top to toe?" followed by Marcelleous saying "From head to foot" but tonight David Tennant got his line wrong as he said "From head to foot" too so they both said that line.
Another mistake was made by the Player King as he said a line wrong.
The third mistake was that Claudius was taking about Ophelia but said "her father has come from France" instead of "her brother has come from France".
David really struggled to get his recorder into his pocket tonight - in the end he guided it in with his hand! He also struggled to do up one of his buttons on his blue shirt as he was a lot further along in that speech before he had succeeded!
The bedroom scene was brilliant tonight. Both David Tennant and Penny Downie play that scene so well, and so differently each performance. I had heard that they were going to change it so that they had photos of the two brothers but they still used the newspapers.
The "In Heaven!" line when Hamlet is tied to the chair received the biggest laugh that I've heard tonight.
David Tennant sat down a few extra times tonight so it'll be interesting to see if that is how he's going to play it now (with the smaller stage) or whether that was just tonight. For example he sat with his legs out and his feet facing the audience for the speech about Denmark being a prison and again for part of the discussion with Osric.
Afterwards when they had bowed, Ryan Gage explained that this week loads of theatres were collecting for World AIDS Day and there were buckets at all the exits.
There's a new programme for the London performances with the photo of Hamlet with the crown on the front (£3.50).
As I had 25 minutes before my train home I went to the stage door. For some reason they had arranged it so that the fans were behind the barriers either side of the door (probably so that people could walk along the pavement okay). It was a good idea to put up the barriers but only about 4 people would be at the actual stage door entrance (with about 50 behind them) unless DT walked along the pavement so I couldn't see how that was going to work (but as we once accidentally went by that theatre after a matinee when some pop idol guy was playing there and there were fans all over the road, it seemed a good idea to try something). As I'm not into autographs (and I've previously met David Tennant) I just stood at the other side of the road to watch. However, in the end DT came out of the other door and it took a little while for people to realise that he was there! There were then a lot of people around him but there didn't appear to be any pushing.
I left work at about 7.00pm and there was a massive crowd outside the theatre waiting to get in as they were only letting a few people in at a time. The theatre is a real warren of a place as to get to my seat in the stalls I had to go down to the bar and turn left, then down some more steps, up some others, around a corner and then down some more! At this point the people in front of me were joking that we were going to end up on the Circle Line!
We came out at the front of the stalls. I'd bought my seat through the RSC postal system so I was in Row E which I understood was going to be the 4th row as we were told that rows A and B would be removed but row B was there. Not that it mattered as I still had a good view. The stage is a lot higher than in Stratford but I think that even in the front row you would be able to see okay unless you were very short. There was plenty of leg room and the theatre was a comfortable temperature (plus the loos were nice!).
However I did feel that the stage was cramped, at least compared to The Courtyard Theatre. For example in Stratford they had 8 chandeliers and 6 panes of glass at the back but at the Novello there is only room for 6 chandeliers and 4 and a half panes of glass, plus there is glass around parts of the side of the stage. I also really miss (as I knew I would) the actors using the walkways through the audience. Other than that, they had staged it pretty much as I expected except that the thrones were lowered into position (the bed was carried onto stage). Also it limited DT being able to run off stage as there's not much room between the edge of the stage and the wall! When he threw the book, he had to just drop it as there wasn't enough room and when the gravedigger throw one of the skulls out, I thought it was going to roll of the stage!
It was another great performance and you couldn't really tell that they hadn't played in front of an audience for 18 days! I thought David Tennant was especially strong tonight in his first few scenes - his expressions when he was told that they had seen the ghost was just amazing as he changed from surprise to astonishment to wonder all in a few seconds! (In that same scene I always like to see how he says the "very like, very like" line as sometimes the words are close together and sometimes he pauses - tonight was a pause!).
Due to the stage DT spoke right at the front of the stage more than in Stratford but he addressed all the levels in the theatre at different times. A lot of his "Now I am alone" speech was at the front and he ran along the front of the stage for the "gives me the lie in the throat" part.
Hamlet's "Too, too sold flesh" soliquee was especially good (and emotional) tonight but it was marred slightly by the walkie-talkie of one of the theatre staff crackling into life at the beginning of the speech!
There were a few mistakes that I noticed (I love live theatre!):
In the scene where Hamlet is told about the ghost and he's asking if they will be armed tonight, Hamlet is supposed to say "From top to toe?" followed by Marcelleous saying "From head to foot" but tonight David Tennant got his line wrong as he said "From head to foot" too so they both said that line.
Another mistake was made by the Player King as he said a line wrong.
The third mistake was that Claudius was taking about Ophelia but said "her father has come from France" instead of "her brother has come from France".
David really struggled to get his recorder into his pocket tonight - in the end he guided it in with his hand! He also struggled to do up one of his buttons on his blue shirt as he was a lot further along in that speech before he had succeeded!
The bedroom scene was brilliant tonight. Both David Tennant and Penny Downie play that scene so well, and so differently each performance. I had heard that they were going to change it so that they had photos of the two brothers but they still used the newspapers.
The "In Heaven!" line when Hamlet is tied to the chair received the biggest laugh that I've heard tonight.
David Tennant sat down a few extra times tonight so it'll be interesting to see if that is how he's going to play it now (with the smaller stage) or whether that was just tonight. For example he sat with his legs out and his feet facing the audience for the speech about Denmark being a prison and again for part of the discussion with Osric.
Afterwards when they had bowed, Ryan Gage explained that this week loads of theatres were collecting for World AIDS Day and there were buckets at all the exits.
There's a new programme for the London performances with the photo of Hamlet with the crown on the front (£3.50).
As I had 25 minutes before my train home I went to the stage door. For some reason they had arranged it so that the fans were behind the barriers either side of the door (probably so that people could walk along the pavement okay). It was a good idea to put up the barriers but only about 4 people would be at the actual stage door entrance (with about 50 behind them) unless DT walked along the pavement so I couldn't see how that was going to work (but as we once accidentally went by that theatre after a matinee when some pop idol guy was playing there and there were fans all over the road, it seemed a good idea to try something). As I'm not into autographs (and I've previously met David Tennant) I just stood at the other side of the road to watch. However, in the end DT came out of the other door and it took a little while for people to realise that he was there! There were then a lot of people around him but there didn't appear to be any pushing.
Next performance for me: Tomorrow (4th)!
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