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PATRICK MARMION reviews Hamlet at Royal Shakespeare Theatre: Hamlet on the Titanic? Alas, it's a sinking ship
PATRICK MARMION: Led by Luke Thallon, the cast grapple with a needless set of problems of their own creation, before finally, and inevitably, going under, three hours later.
One of the (many) unfortunate consequences of this ocean folly is Nancy Carroll's Camilla-ish Gertrude is robbed of one of the most beautiful speeches in all of Shakespeare: relating the death of Hamlet's old flame Ophelia under a willow by a brook (both scarce in the North Atlantic). Until then you can see Devlin's design: an impressive deck listing, lurching and groaning as the ghost ship Elsinore ploughs through icy seas, leaving projections of black churning water in its wake. Staged on an almost completely grey office set, with matching costumes, Ellen McDougall’ production offers no visual relief as it flits mystifyingly between multiple directions like a dysfunctional compass.
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