Critics and fans alike love David Tennant as Doctor Who, some even going to far as to say his performance of the famous Timelord is almost as perfect as the legendary Tom Baker. However, when it comes to his on stage work for an equally famous character, Hamlet, it would seem the critics are split.
The actor got to show a broader range of his thespian chops during the press night for Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at the Royal Shakespeare production in Strafor-upon-Avon. He also got to work with one of the greatest living Shakespearean actors of the 21st Century, Patrick Stewart, who is starring as Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle.
To show the dispersant range of reviews The Guardian called Tennant the “best Hamlet in years” while the Daily Express gave the play three stars, describing it as “disappointing,” according to Wednesday’s BBC News.
All critics however, agree that Stewart’s performance is magnificently flawless.
Some other members of the press who were at the performance call Tennant’s Hamlet “a sarcastic Hamlet, a selfish Hamlet, a Hamlet very much for our self-indulgent age”. Another was quoted as stating Tennant gave a “spirited but unripe” rendition.
Paul Callan of the Daily Express wasn’t so kind and called Tennant’s on-stage act as being “somewhere between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Goon Show”. However, he did admit that the actor’s “near-whispered delivery is sensitive and polished”.
After all the reviews are tallied it would appear that the scale favors Tennant ever-so-slightly and with several months to go in the actual production, his version of Hamlet will no doubt capture the audience — let the critics be damned!
I wish I wish I wish things like this got recorded. The RSC could make more in DVD sales than they did in ticket sales. And I’d get to see things I would never otherwise get the chance to see.
The RSC has a few old recordings of some stellar shows. I’m curious to see if they do a DVD for this one. I actually emailed them to see if they’re planning to. *fingers crossed*
It bugs me that people are talking about David Tennant as if he’s some Hollywood movie celeb trying his hand on stage like so many others (*cough* Katie Holmes*cough*). The man kind of started on stage and has done work at the RSC before.
In fairness, there’s a big difference between a good review from the guardian (a fairly high brow broadsheet newspaper) and a bad review in the daily express (tabloid trash).
It’s a shame there’s no televised recording, Hamlet is my favourite shakespeare play.
The Daily Express is a dreadful tabloid paper ignore their paltry three stars!
All the highbrow, broadsheet journalists like his performance while all the grotty, tabloid journalists didn’t. I’m sure Tennant is not overly concerned with the negative reviews considering their source.
His performance is waugh. *God* waugh. But the reviews are effing dee.
They probably will – check the RSC web page. Even better, save your pennies and check it out for yourself, you’ve not lived until you’ve seen Hamlet live!
I swear I would give vital parts of my anatomy to get to Stratford to see Tennant and Stewart on the same stage.
Dmac, I don’t think it’s a matter of saving your pennies. Even if you had them, they actually have to have tickets available.
I know that if I were in London, I would grab a ticket – hands down!
‘Some other members of the press who were at the performance call Tennant’s Hamlet “a sarcastic Hamlet, a selfish Hamlet…’
Isn’t this a description of the way the character is written, no necessarily Tennant’s take on the character.
Shawn, it may be a matter of emphasis. Hamlet’s big thing is essentially “I suffer.” Depending on focus it could be be more “I *suffer*”, so what you end up with is wailing, maudlin, beating on his chest until he bleeds. Or you could have “*I* suffer”, my fault, my duty, the world is happy but me, oh no, not me, never me. More bitter than depressive.
If you want to see how differently two people can play the same character, watch Lawrence Fishburne’s Othello v. Laurence Olivier’s Othello. One I would call broody and explosive, the other melodramatic and foppish. Same words, but a HUGE difference.
Magess, I mostly agree with your comments. I intended a little more sarcasm in my post, but that is hard to convey in print. 😉
Shawn, ahh. My bad. Sorry. 🙂
Sell those portions of anatomy and go. I’ll never dare let on what I paid for a tciket, when I realised they’d sold out, but worth every penny. Tennant, as Hamlet, did what he was meant to do: kept you guessing. Was he really mad? A mad man pretending to be sane? A sane mad pretending to be mad? A mad man pretending to be even madder? At one point he would appear to be merely grieving, at another in the full throws of depression (?with psychotic elements), at others a manic depressive, and at others still far too knowing to be anything other than sane. Yet, through it all, a sense of timing, and a precision of movement and expression, that wrung every last dreg of black humour from the language and circumstance. Superb. And I really don’t have to tell you that Patrick Stewart made a superb Claudius, there was never any doubt of that. But Tennant and Stewart as Hamlet and Claudius? Each served as the perfect foil to the other. I laughed, and I cried. I laughed until my chest hurt. I clapped until I could not raise my arms. I have lost count of how many RSC productiosn I have seen (well over 20), but never have I experienced such an evening.
hey, does anybody know if there are some news regarding a dvd? I wish so much to see Tennant and Stewart together! (but I haven’t got the possibility to see Hamlet live 🙁 )