Had it not been for the Elizabethan text giving it away, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s latest take on the Bard’s greatest tragedy, Hamlet, might have been straight out of a scene from Cole Porter’s musical, Anything Goes.

However, despite a similar backdrop - an ocean-going liner, where bell boys, gents in studded shirts and elegant ladies fill the stage - the historical setting of Revival Director, Sophie Drake’s production, between April 14th and 15th 1912, was the real giveaway.

They were the fateful dates on which HMS Titanic hit the deadly iceberg which sank White Star’s unsinkable ship, claiming the lives of nearly 1500 passengers.

Only in Hamlet, Mr Shakespeare never claimed that there would be zero loss of life: on the contrary, they went down like flies, meaning this inspired idea proved a perfect way to breathe new life into a time-tired play.

Fresh, invigorating and extremely watchable Vin Diesel lookalike, Ralph Davis, as the main protagonist, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, gripped the audience for more than two hours in this beautifully directed offering, which interpreted, brilliantly, a complex text that features layer upon layer of nuance, symbolism and double speak.

Two digital timeclocks either side of the proscenium arch, leave you wondering, at the outset, what’s about to happen but, as the plot unfolds, time passes and dots are joined, you slowly begin to realise what Director of the original production, Rupert Goold, most probably had on his mind: tragic loss of life and how best to convey this in a fresh way for a new, young audience.

When the ‘digital’ ocean upstage and running throughout, is calm, there is a slow unnerving build, but, as the bodies start to fall and the fateful duel between Hamlet and Laertes (Benjamin Westerby), comes to its bloody conclusion, the sea, like the play’s characters, are raging.

And, I have to applaud Lighting Designer, Jack Knowles’ plot, which cleverly turns the stage red as Hamlet contemplates the murder of Claudius, new King of Denmark (Raymond Coulthard) murderer of the prince’s father and usurper to the Royal throne.

Hamlet is not for the faint hearted and, without doubt, you benefit more from knowing the text closely, if only to realise that Rosencrantz (Jamie Sayers) and Guildenstern (Julia Kass) are usually two blokes, not an Ivy League American couple!

However, the uncanny alliance worked brilliantly in this maritime setting – remember, Titanic was New York bound - and, no spoilers, they still didn’t manage to kill Prince H, despite being members of the Make Denmark Great Again (MCGA) Party!

Overall, the ‘idea’ for this production was inspired. Yes, Ophelia’s father, Polonius, ends overboard in a watery grave, but, rather than at the end of a rapier, he’s first taken out with a hand gun in one of the cruise ship’s top deck suites!

The ghostly apparition at the outset of the play is in the engine rooms and, various other backdrops all featured either the sea, a port hole or some other Naval cum maritime backdrop, making the play of-the-moment and, somehow, more understandable.

Following hard on the heels of Headlong’s excellent production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Leeds Playhouse, this is another triple AAA offering from the RSC, that is worthy of any Shakespeare lover’s purse.

Hamlet
Alhambra, Bradford
Until Saturday March 7th