It was back in August last year (2014) that I sat on the phone and online for almost an hour, constantly redialling my phone and sitting in a queue of thousands trying to get Hamlet tickets. Luckily for me, around the 45-50 minute mark, someone at the Barbican picked up the phone and I was able to get myself two tickets for Thursday 1 October 2015. I was so excited that I put this picture (below) on Instagram to share the news!
So - after waiting for almost fourteen months since buying the tickets - I finally got to see Hamlet this past Thursday.
I'm a huge fan of Mr Benedict Cumberbatch (which everybody who knows me would be able to tell you!) so I was very excited to finally have the chance to see his talent live and in person.
The play was breath-taking. I had tears in my eyes when I first saw Mr Cumberbatch on the stage. I had amazing seats on the upper circle tier, but with nobody behind us and nobody directly in front of us either. The upper circle only has two rows of seats but they are rather staggered in height, so you kind of forget there's people in front of you because they are practically below you. Also, the seats were very comfortable, which was a bonus seeing as the first part of the show was almost two hours long, followed by another 50 minutes after a twenty-minute interval.
I was in awe of the set when the screen when up at the beginning, with this gorgeously rich stately home style room revealed. It was just beautiful and I spent the first few minutes just sitting there with my mouth open.
I also adored the rest of the cast, especially Ciarán Hinds who I am a fan of from his time on Game of Thrones. He played Hamlet's uncle and he did a marvellous job of it!
As a massive Shakespeare fan I struggle to pinpoint one favourite play of mine, but if you told me I could choose five then Hamlet would definitely be up there (if you're interested my other four favourites would be Romeo and Juliet, Coriolanus, Henry V, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. But I also like Macbeth... Damn it, it's too hard to choose!)
Even though I knew how the play would end - and I know it sounds silly - I still found myself on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. It also felt like a reimagining of the whole play that made you feel like anything unexpected could still happen. It was just a stunning version of such a famous and much-loved Shakespeare classic.
I would give this production:
I would see this show again in a heartbeat if it wasn't completely sold out!
But if you weren't luck enough to see this at the Barbican then you may be interested to know that National Theatre Live are transmitting a live performance into cinemas this month, with many cinemas already adding on extra showing of it because of the high demand. Check with your local cinema for details to see if it is being shown near you.
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