The theatrical drama Hamlet is directed by Paul Radford. The stage/set and costumes of the performance are designed by Jeffrey Stegall. Richard Streeter is in charge of stage lighting.
The overall set designing and props of the drama reflect Byzantinian style and culture to show the authentic culture of Hamlet. The set of the play is designed as the Royal Palace of Elsinore.
The plot of Hamlet revolves around the essential elements of morality and truth. Hamlet is a tragic play written by Shakespeare. The main character/ protagonist of the drama is prince Hamlet who goes against his consciousness and kills the new king upon the revelation of the ghost of the former king of Denmark(his father). Hamlet crosses his moral consciousness and kills his uncle, King Claudius. The drama opens up with the lurking ghost of the former king(father of Hamlet) in the castle. Hamlet comes back from school in Germany after getting the news of his father’s death. After coming back from his school, Hamlet comes across the most shocking revelation of his mother marrying his uncle King Claudius. Prince Hamlet cleverly plots against King Claudius and gets to know the truth of his uncle (King Claudius) killing his father. After going through series of events, murders, and revelations, Prince Hamlet eventually kills King Claudius for taking revenge for his father’s murder. However, prince Hamlet does not take the throne and dies while giving the throne to Prince Fortinbras.
The quality of the acting in this drama is very good. Overall the performance of all the characters is impressive. However, the character of Hamlet is not performed very well in this play. Hamlet is the protagonist of the play, but the actor was chosen for the role does not fulfill the requirements of the grand role. The acting by Hamlet seems very artificial and minimalist. The physical features of Hamlet are also lean and slim which does not do justice to the role. Other than this issue, all the actors pay justice to their characters.
The speech dialect used by the actors is used accurately from the drama. The characters are using old English in their play. There are no unnecessary pauses, stuttering, or mumbling during the dialogue delivery. This shows that the actors have learned their dialogues very well. the setting of this play is in the Royal Palace of Elsinore in Denmark. The stage is designed according to the palace. However, the props used for the design are minimalist. The costume of all the characters reflects upon Byzantinian culture. The costume of the late king appearing as the ghost reflects upon its royalty and entices the most. The matching costume of King Claudius and his new wife Queen Gertrude reflect royalty. All the costumes used during the performance reflect upon the character’s specific status/role. The sound and lighting effects used in the play accentuate the acting and speech delivery by the actors. Lightening effects are used to focus on important scenes with shadowy background so that the attention of the audience is entirely on the important scenes
Overall, the drama performance attracts the audience throughout the play. Throughout the play, the audience is contemplating over the thematic meaning embedded in the acting of the drama. All the actors pay justice to their characters.
Works Cited
Bob Jones University. Hamlet. 2020. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq5HKX1vicM.
