Photo: Tim MorozzoHamlet’s father is unexpectedly dead. Returning home from university, he is shocked to discover that the funeral wake has rapidly turned into a celebration of his mother’s remarriage to the dead man’s brother. Read more …
Then one night, a visit from beyond the grave confirms Hamlet’s worst fears and sets him on a bloody path to madness, murder and revenge.
Brian Ferguson takes on the title role of the troubled Hamlet. Roberta Taylor - well known for her lead roles in The Bill and EastEnders and a regular performer at the Citizens during the 1980s – joins forces with her husband and stage and screen actor Peter Guinness to play Gertrude and Claudius.
Verdict: The prince of Denmark is given a violent production that sees Dominic Hill establish his distinctive and intelligent directorial style.
A version that simmers with an edgy intensity that brings all of Hamlet's demons home to roost.
This Hamlet reaches a level of nerve-wrenching intensity and tragedy rarely achieved in more conventionally poetic productions, an intensity well earned by Ferguson’s brave and ground-breaking central performance, and by a company who richly deserved their first-night standing ovation, at the Citizens’ on Wednesday.
his is an excellent production, no doubt.
This cold war-era production vividly captures an ordinary man’s struggle against a corrupt society.
A more sure-footed, intelligent, inventive and scintillating presentation of Shakespeare’s great tragedy it is difficult to imagine.
Interview: actor Brian Ferguson takes on Dominic Hill's new version of Hamlet
Brian Ferguson--Playing Hamlet
Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow from Friday September 19, 2014, until Saturday October 11, 2014. More info: www.citz.co.uk
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