Royal Shakespeare Company Hamlet at Royal Shakespeare Theatre Review

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Wed 19 Feb 2025 - Sat 29 Mar 2025

Director Rupert Goold has form with Shakespeare, picking up an Olivier Award for best director for his Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart in 2008. That time, he set the tragedy in a dictator-run Soviet bloc style country with morgues and lots of blood, so I couldn't wait to see where his innovation would take Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company(RSC).

Opening on the deck of a ship with a screen backdrop of raging waves, the rotting state of Denmark has transferred into a sinking ship - the Titanic no less. That's a mighty piece of symbolism right there before all of Goold's extra set surprises kick in.

This new version of Hamlet is running at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon until March 29. Taking the lead role is rising star Luke Thallon, who Goold has worked with frequently from Albion at The Almeida in 2017 to Patriots and Cold War.

Thallon has turned heads elsewhere in roles like Present Laughter with Andrew Scott at The Old Vic, but following in the footsteps of so many greats to play Hamlet for the RSC feels like that make-or-break moment of whether he will live up to the hype.



Starting off with a burial at sea for Hamlet's father, the ship deck is an imposing structure, segregated from the audience by a moat of water and with a floor that tilts. It shows both the movement of the sea and also what I took to be an analogy of crisis points in Hamlet's life, especially in the final tragic scene when it is practically at a 90-degree angle.

Thallon, pictured above, and his co-stars cope admirably with the physical demands of the rising and falling set, constantly entering from staircases leading up from below deck on the bow and stern, rather than stage left or right.

The adaptation of the water fits well as sea fog and horns add atmosphere. A commanding Anton Lesser as the ghost of Hamlet's father haunts the engine room giving his devoted son a life-changing message that sends him running barefoot around the ship in turmoil for much of the rest of the play.

Fresh-faced Thallon looks the part of a young, anguished and often petulant Hamlet at odds with his mother Gertrude (Nancy Carroll) and uncle turned new stepfather Claudius (Jared Harris), who he believes to have murdered his father. Thallon makes him sarcastic and cunning with a tick the more troubled he gets. He's relatable with a raging inner anger that surfaces beautifully when with Ophelia.



While Thallon shines the brightest with a standout performance, Nia Towle is an enthralling Ophelia, who also catches the eye. Their scene together is one of the highlights of the production, with an electrifying chemistry and emotion that packs a punch. They are both obviously two names to watch out for in the future and you may have seen Towle in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as Estrid.

Harris, shown below, known more now for his roles in Mad Men and Chernobyl than for being the son of actor Richard Harris, takes a back seat before the interval as Claudius. It's in later scenes that he makes an impact, playing him as a chilling brute with a short fuse.

Once threatened, Claudius is quick to resort to violence, almost drowning Hamlet in a bucket of dirty water when he refuses to say where he's left the body of poor Polonius. Talking of Polonius, Elliot Levey is a light-hearted break from the gloom in the role, making it all the sadder for him being caught in the crossfire.



The ship setting adds some interesting changes especially when Hamlet meets the gravedigger. Instead, he's throwing bodies overboard and as inventive as this production is, it doesn't stray so far from the norms that Hamlet still ponders over a skull in the well-quoted scene.

And although Hamlet wields a gun when seeking revenge, there's still a well-choreographed sword fight in the finale.

But we need to face the elephant in the room - the Titanic. The production team wanted the play set within the context of a catastrophic event, where the audience already knows what happens.

Extra passengers appearing in interludes to dance and later grab life-jackets does fit in with the general direction and doom of the Hamlet plot. Plus the Edwardian dress from the Titanic era is a well-chosen style choice.

Yet some of the correlations with the sinking of Titanic feel at odds with the timeline. A digital clock constantly displays and bleeps at key times during the night of the Titanic tragedy, which I'm not sure really works or translates well into Hamlet.



Without a doubt, this Hamlet feels original, exciting and hugely innovative on stage. I love the ship setting and staging which brings a whole new refreshing angle to this age-old story.

Whether the crossover with Titanic totally works is another matter, but that said, I still found myself enthralled and fascinated by this intriguing new production. Most of all, Thallon as Hamlet was a force of nature and is undoubtedly destined to soon become a household name.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars


Tickets from the RSC website here cost from £17 to £70.

Running time is around 2 hours 50 minutes, including a 20 min interval.

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