Last March, invited to take arms against the Shakespeare scholar Michael Dobson in these pages, I found myself holding the short straw. To the question “Is Hamlet staged too often?” I was to answer “Yes!” This devil’s advocacy was enormous fun, but Michael, of course, had right on his side. His claim that “Hamlet is always a new play, and frequently the best one around” is powerfully vindicated by Terry Hands’s latest production. It is, literally, breathtaking. Scenes stream across the stage. Mark Bailey’s monumental set – contrasts of black and whites, shimmering reflections and solid flesh – serves as a foil to fix attention on the dynamics of the action.
The play is always the thing – tellingly crafted, without extraneous commentary. This does not mean it is bland – strong choices are made (Polonius slapping Ophelia, for instance).
As on Shakespeare’s stage, characters and situations are central; actors are trusted to galvanise action to life. Lee Haven-Jones’s Hamlet is protean, ceaselessly shifting to evade surrounding traps, sifting impressions to sort false from true. His extravagant fancies and furies are tethered to our reality by Richard Elfyn’s steady, watchful Horatio. Every actor on this stage sensitively fits a meticulously honed personal performance to their fellows’ and to the text.
Hands is stepping down after 17 years as artistic director at Mold. This is a bravura farewell.
• Until 7 March, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold; then touring
