BEATS OF LOVE
148. Hamlet Hail to the Thief by William Shakepeare Adapted by Christine Jones with Stephen Hoggett, Music by Radiohead, Orhestrations by Thom Yorke
THAT THIS 424m building is host to some of the most precariously balanced hats I've ever seen is no surprise. We're still dressing like teenagers. Shakespeare's play needs no introduction. It resonated with my younger self as I went mad after my father died. And resonates still.
That said, would I rather be in a smaller theatre watching a faithful three hour production? My answer is a resounding no. The play will still do the rounds five hundred years from now, but this deconstructed version is of its time. Edited for its overworked audience, it provides a sugar rush rather than great depth. Yet Samuel Blenkin's bereaved prince is utterly captivating and convincing. Spinning around the smoky austere set with pathos and energy in equal measure, he helps concentrate on the mind, emphasizing his most resonant words with an idiosyncratic thump.
The music interjects at the right time and Yorke occasionally cleverly chops the vocals, which allows for meditative phrasing. Something a faithful reproduction doesn't permit. To hell with plot development. What the peripheral characters lose in dialogue they make up for in expressive movement. The music is a device to prize open what is timeless and weighty, re-contextualising it to accommodate the hurts and betrayals of the everyday. The democratization of culture means a big trade off. With so many of us now able to read and write, so few of us actually read and write what endures.
Preferring instead fragmentary manicured noise, the effect of too much invigorating choice, and this adaptation is perfect in celebrating that. And for this reason, it gets a thumbs up.
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