London theatre, from Shakespeare to Spamalot, is tricky. Do you attend something avant-garde and become labelled as pretentious or do you enjoy a West End musical and risk being considered uncultured? Then there's Shakespeare himself. He's a classic but that Olde English just seems so pompous. Thank goodness for The Factory Theatre's Underground Hamlet which includes the depth and genius of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy as well as slapstick improvisational humour. The Factory produces a performance of Hamlet that can appeal to all audiences.
23:59 on September 6th. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is packed with a sold-out crowd wielding an unlikely assortment of objects including a model of K-9 and a real stuffed deer that would make a taxidermist proud. There is a sense of excitement and overcaffinated anticipation palpable in the air as the crowd prepares for the three and a half hour marathon that marks the one year anniversary of Underground Hamlet.
For a year, The Factory has entertained audiences with Underground Hamlet which stays true to the unabridged script but relies solely on props and costume elements provided by the crowd. All roles are cast moments before the play begins by members of the audience who duke it out on behalf of the actors in tension-filled games of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Tonight's casting process takes nearly 20 minutes, aided by liberal commentary from the crowd which includes many repeat viewers.
With a "Who's
there?" from Bernardo and an umbrella tossed from the crowd to aid the Danish
guard, we're off. The first act passes rather uneventfully, although when the
ghost of the murdered king appears in a bright yellow helmet and gas mask, the
crowd finds it difficult to take Horatio at his word that this was a "fair and
warlike form". After act one, further challenges were put to the actors to add an element of creativity to
their performance. Or, depending on how you look at it, to hinder their performance.
It is with these challenges that the play begins to unravel slightly. While the improv on the part of the actors is top notch, the challenges do more to disrupt the play than aid it. This is particularly true of the last act which commences just before 03:00. Actors may only move while their accompanist is playing and may only speak when he is not and therefore the emotional and action-packed fifth act becomes stilted and disjointed.
Despite the
somewhat unfortunate challenges that plague the period after the interval, at
the final applause the crowd still feel they've taken part in something
spectacular. It's no small feat to make Shakespeare feel new yet still keep its
meaning. The fact that the props, cast and challenges change nightly means that
every Underground Hamlet is different. While there may not be a better setting
than the Globe at midnight, Underground Hamlet performances will continue
throughout London as long as there is audience interest. If four hundred years
of Shakespeare fans are any indication, that will thankfully be for quite some
time.
Get on the mailing list for future performances at the Factory's Hamlet website
Read Joe's interview with Factory co-founder Alex Hassle in his London Theatre column
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