Hamlet: Staging Shakespeare for a Modern Audience | How Plays Work

Last week, the BBC broadcast the 2017 Almeida Theatre production of Hamlet on BBC Two. Directed by Robert Icke and with Andrew Scott in the title role, this production of perhaps Shakespeare's most famous play does more than simply apply a filter to the text but, instead, carries out some deep interventions into the narrative of Hamlet.

In this video, I wanted to use this particular production to explore the director's role in staging Shakespeare for a modern audience. There is no rule that says that Shakespeare plays should be relevant forever, however, this production does more than simply updating Shakespeare but fundamentally alters how its narrative works.

I would suggest going to catch Hamlet first on BBC iPlayer before watching this video. It can be found below.

Also, I don't get much of a chance to do an overview of the script so, if you're looking for a Hamlet summary, I've also provided a link to the Cliff's Notes website.

Hamlet (BBC iPlayer): https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09yj7dz/hamlet

Hamlet (Cliff's Notes): https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/hamlet/play-summary

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Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

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