A fertile promontory: Sydney Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet

Hamlet needs no introduction – as a play or as a character – yet each successive staging seems to require a justification, an explanation of its resonances and relevance. For director Steven Hopley, this explanation is simple: to be the first production staged on Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour, and what a treat this is. We are met near the Opera House by a small water taxi and ferried across to the island; the scene from Shakespeare in Love with Shakespeare crossing the Thames in a similar boat immediately comes to mind – “I’m a bit of a writer myself…” The sun sets over the city, we step onto the island, and we are in another place: Elsinore, Denmark. Here, now, then; always.

We are met at the jetty by two guards in red coats, ghosts from a much earlier time, who demand to know how goes there. From our midst comes the answerer, Horatio, and we are thrust into the middle of a world of secrecy, lies, madness, appearances, and two families whose fortunes and fates are inextricably intertwined. As the scenes progress, and we move from the jetty to the tower, the powder rooms, the forecourt and the promenade, we get a very real sense of Hamlet’s Elsinore, we become part of the play itself, observers and conspirators to confessions and murders, and it makes a normally ponderous play seem fresh, new, and exciting.

2013, the verdict

THEATRE

Event(s) of the Year Peter Pan; Forget Me Not – Belvoir Mrs Warren’s Profession – STC The Bull, The Moon and the Coronet of Stars – Griffin Henry 4 – Bell Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice – Sydney Shakespeare Company Songs with Orchestra – Lior & Nigel Westlake, with Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Honourable Mention Angels in America – Belvoir One Scientific Mystery, or Why Did The Aborigines Eat Captain Cook? – VHS Productions Rust and Bone – Griffin Summertime in the Garden of Eden – Griffin Bushpig – Bagabus inc (part of Sydney Fringe Festival) Top Girls – New Theatre
Best (New) Play Forget Me Not, Tom Holloway The Bull, The Moon and the Coronet of Stars, Van Badham One Scientific Mystery, or Why Did The Aborigines Eat Captain Cook?, Victoria Haralabidou Hinterland, Jane Bodie	The Flat Award Phédre – Bell Shakespeare Persona – Belvoir A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Bell Shakespeare Hamlet (with Toby Schmitz) – Belvoir
The Almost Award Jerusalem – New Theatre Return to Earth – Griffin	The ‘Love Me Tender’ Award Small and Tired – Belvoir
The Game-Changer Romeo and Juliet – STC

The Playlist: 2013 at the theatre

If you've followed my blog or read any of the theatre reviews throughout this year, you might have seen – at the bottom of the page – a song, numbered from 1 to 39. They form what I call ‘The Playlist,’ the idea being to find a piece of music that encapsulates either the production or my response to it (or sometimes both). Some selections may differ from those posted in the reviews; if so, it’s only because of a further reflection upon the production on my part. So here, altogether for the first time, is The Playlist for 2013.

The quality of mercy: Sydney Shakespeare Company’s The Merchant of Venice

Written in 1596, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is generally classified as one of his comedies, along with masterpieces such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing. While there certainly are comedic elements to Merchant, it is not altogether a comedic play in the definition generally used to classify Shakespeare’s work. While it does encompass many scenes of focused around the idea of love, the titular merchant is accosted by Shylock, a money-lender, because he defaulted on the loan of 3,000 ducats and is thus required to pay the bond – the infamous pound of flesh.

It’s a dark play, full of politicking and financial matters, but underneath it all is that wonderful Shakespearean sense of humanity and life, the very lifeblood that has made him and his works what they are today. In the hands of the Sydney Shakespeare Company, their Merchant of Venice is a clear, honest and simple telling of this problematic play, one which fills the tiny sixty-five-seat TAP Gallery theatre with a warmth and generosity of spirit which is often lost in the hands of others.