A minor complaint however as essentially no other stone (or skull?!) was left unturned. A mad Ophelia played a particularly moving scene on stage moments before her death, singing loudly, in a torn and muddied dress. She held and distributed stems of flowers to King Claudius, Laertes and Queen Gertrude who seemed as perplexed and worried by her strange mood and actions as the audience were. The use of flowers in this scene was one that I had rarely seen done and hinted strongly to some sparse clues by Shakespeare himself in his text as well as the famous classical painting by John Everett Millais featuring the after effect of this haunting moment- a drowned Ophelia surrounded by a garland of flowers.
Overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable performance which managed to keep an audience engaged despite its ‘one fits all’ set and props which, in a larger scale production, could have been improved upon. The acting was the stand out feature of this production and the clever animated projection of King Hamlet in ghost form wasn’t too shabby either!
