The Top Floor Flat

Hamlet gets reincarnated (again… and again… and again…) on the London stages. A quick plug for an article I wrote on the Spoonfed Flavour Blog about Hamlet and the various versions that are gracing London stages this summer.

I’m so beyond excited – I have press tickets to see The Factory’s last ever Underground Hamlet at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre at midnight next week (after I get back from France). In the show, all of the principles can play all of the roles and are randomly cast after the audience arrives. There is no set or props, they only use things that the audience brings. However even though there’s an element of improv, they are completely strict to the script. I’m thrilled I get to go!

In any case, below is my article about the Hamlets of London:

I know about this Danish prince who’s become really popular lately.  He’s world famous, a smart and worldly guy, and he makes the girls go absolutely mad.  Did I mention that he’s approximately 408 years old?

Alright, so perhaps Hamlet isn’t quite as much of a catch as some of the various modern royals waltzing about these days.  And of course there’s the downside that he’s fictional.  But there’s something about the great Dane that has captured the imagination of theatre and literature buffs as well as the general public for centuries.

And Hamlet has stepped back into the limelight over the last few months.  With culture icons Patrick Stewart and David Tennant performing in this season’s version of the Shakespearean classic at the RSC making headlines, Hamlet was launched into the public eye with a vengeance.  And before yethinks the press doth protest too much the way Hamlet has recaptured the public’s imagination, consider also the Hamlet Weblog and Hamlet appearing on the West End as well.

Perhaps the greatest incarnation of the original emo kid and his Danish cohorts has been produced this summer by The Factory with their Last Ever Underground Hamlet, which is taking place at midnight at the Globe next Saturday.  In The Factory version, the actors can play multiple roles and are cast minutes before the performance and all props are provided by the audience. Joe, our theatre editor, has tracked down one of the founders and principles of The Factory, Alex Hassell, for an interview about Underground Hamlet and the process of putting this event together.

At Spoonfed, we’ve caught the Hamlet fever as well and we’re giving away two tickets to the Last Ever Underground Hamlet performance at The Globe so if you’re interested in entering to win, head over to the competition page.

In the meantime, the play’s the thing to keep an eye out for this year and I highly recommend you take a look at Joe’s interview with The Factory’s Alex Hassell.

Are you a fan of Hamlet or are you of the opinion that it’s just something rotten in the state of Denmark?

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