Articles: more Hamlet reviews

"Tennant was able to overcome the hype and prove his abilities as a “really fine, athletic and technically accomplished classical actor”... A few critics were sceptical about Gregory Doran’s cuts to the original text, particularly in the final scenes, but overall, there was great excitement surrounding this “full-value production”." (from WhatsOnStage.com's superior review round-up)

Five more reviews today (after the five yesterday), plus five varying round-ups -- if you read just one Hamlet article, make it the WhatsOnStage summary.


Reviews

Alas poor Doctor Who... you're okay but not out of this world by Quentin Letts
(from Mail Online)
Letts seems to want to dislike this production more than he actually does, forcing his way into any small fault he sees in poor attempts to widen them.

David Tennant thrills in Hamlet by David Baldwin
(from Metro.co.uk)
"there's no sense of righteous anger here, no earth-shattering grief. That doesn't make this a bad performance though, merely a different interpretation of the role. Doran seems to have understood what would suit Tennant best and gone with that, which pays dividends... It's not a Hamlet for the ages, but rather one for the here and now."

Hamlet, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon by Paul Taylor
(from The Independent)
A very good, balanced review, including a more sensible list of great modern Hamlets than the Guardian's.

Hamlet (RSC, Stratford) by Michael Coveney
(from WhatsOnStage.com)
"Hamlet should be exciting. And Gregory Doran’s full-value production for the RSC in the Courtyard is exactly that... We should respond to Hamlet himself as a funny, fast, sardonic, headstrong prince with a streak of fatal prevarication and sense of his own intellectual superiority. And that we certainly do... This is easily the most complete Hamlet of recent years, and one of the most enjoyable."

Here's a prince for our time by Nicholas de Jongh
(originally from the Evening Standard)
Tennant "achieves something sensational and never managed in the past 40 years. He unlocks the key to the mystery of Hamlet and offers a convincing explanation for the prince's famous delay in avenging his father's murder... I was dazzled and excited by this concept... I hope Tennant can endow his historic Hamlet with what it crucially misses -- a heart."


Summaries

Mixed response to Tennant's play
(from BBC News)
The report correctly notes that the reviews have been mixed, though broadly positive and, having read a few myself, I'd say the most common conclusion is that it's a pretty damn good production. That's not as newsworthy as people slating it, of course, which is what this article initially focuses on.

Rave reviews for David Tennant's Hamlet
(from Metro.co.uk)
The yin to the BBC's summary's yang.

Review Round-up: Is Tennant Hamlet Hype or Hit? by Kate Jackson
(from WhatsOnStage.com)
Great round-up of many reviews: an accurate summation (after a few paragraphs of facts) followed by key quotes from seven different reviews (all of which I've featured here too).

Reviews roundup: Hamlet by Natalie Hanman
(from guardian.co.uk)
"The hype, it seems, was justified."

'Subtle', 'surreal' and the 'best in years'... David Tennant's Hamlet wins over the critics (mostly) by Graham Smith
(from Mail Online)
"while some critics made barbed comments about theatre companies using big names to fill seats, Tennant's performance received a generally positive response - with a few reservations."


"At the time of writing, if you want to pick up a good pair of seats for this sold out production of Hamlet on eBay, you'll have to shell out about £500." (Stratford performances are sold out; tickets for the 3-week London run go on sale in September.)