Theatre
Hamlet (Olivier) The Misanthrope (Bristol Old Vic)
Without • the Prince
Christopher Edwards
0 f all Shakespeare's tragedies, we have been so used to this one that we hardly know how to criticise it any more than we should know how to describe our own faces. But, as Hazlitt said, we must make such observations as we can. It is both a compellingly personal and a strangely elusive work — marginally less unsatisfactory to read than to see. In the study you can linger on some particular aspect of the ill-fitting character of Hamlet. But on stage we look for some coherent picture — an almost impossible feat for an actor to achieve.
I have never really enjoyed a production of the play, never seen one where the Prince struck me as more than half con- vincing, as the Hamlet of our or any other time. The difficulty afflicts academic critics too. Eliot, in a celebrated complaint, argued that nothing Shakespeare could do with the plot could adequately express Hamlet for him. The Prince is dominated by emotions (disgust of his mother for instance) that exceed the facts available about the character. How can we (or the actor) understand things which even Shakespeare did not understand?
Daniel Day Lewis, in this production directed by Richard Eyre, at least has the advantage of looking the part to perfec- tion: slim, romantic, saturnine, with hol- low eyes and an air of brooding self- preoccupation. All this is strikingly appa- rent before he even says a line — blinking and twitching during Claudius's opening speech. But when he does speak he sadly lacks authority. The voice is too light and monochromatic to control or shape the verse. The soliloquies are taken at a headlong rush as if he wanted to get them out of the way. And too often the argu- ment in the verse is just lost. He is best when in company — with David Bamber's excellent Horatio, or with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern whose measure Hamlet soon scornfully takes. But, lacking intellectual authority as he does, the performance is ultimately a slight one. The spasms of antic madness — leaping up in the air as if electrocuted — seem merely tacked on to the performance for effect, rather than arising essentially from the character's internal disorder.
Judi Dench's Gertrude is impressive — simple and doting on John Castle's com- manding Claudius. A bowed head and an unreciprocated caress mark the moment when the sexual spell between them is broken after the closet scene. It is a subtly registered and terminal breach of their affections.
Michael Bryant's Polonius is magnifi- cent. He is a harsh, ageing disciplinarian. Although the famous advice to his son is stamped with affection, Bryant gives the old man a bitter edge and — in one wonderfully pregnant lapse in concentra- tion — makes us understand that his fierce meddlesomeness is partly to do with fear at his own failing powers. The threat of losing control makes him choleric, even to the King and Queen. It is the most complete and convincing Polonius I have seen.
The period costumes — Renaissance to Regency — are lovely. The set, by John Gunter, is also very impressive. A tower- ing martial statue of Hamlet's father dominates the open stage. And, for the less public scenes, the space is closed down intimately by sliding walls containing pri- vate doors of sumptuous inlaid wood. David Burke's Ghost is powerful and moving (he doubles well as the Grave- digger too). Everything about the produc- tion, bar the Prince, is impressive. A familiar story.
Down at the Bristol Old Vic, I strongly recommend a touring production of MoHere's The Misanthrope in a quite brilliant version by Tony Harrison. Harri- son's verse is remarkable for its wit, topical humour and unifying rhyme structure. Edward Petherbridge, an amusing and affecting Alceste, leads a very strong cast which includes Sian Thomas, in superb form, as the 20-year-old flirt Celimene.
Tad news, Mr Greer — it's a sheila.' There is not a single dud line in this delightful and intelligent evening, and urge you to see it. The production remains at Bristol until 8 April, tours the country for two months and comes into the Nation- al Theatre repertoire at the end of May. Here is the touring schedule: Alhambra, Bradford: 10-15 April Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton: 17- 22 April New Theatre, Hull: 24-29 April Theatre Royal, Nottingham: 1-6 May Theatre Royal, Norwich: 8-13 May Theatre Royal, Brighton: 15-20 May
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