Performances

Andrew Scott production (2018)

The CCTV cameras help show surveillance and the nature of court control throughout. Uses CCTV, hidden microphones (Polonius and Hamlet), television broadcasts (the funeral, Norway's invasion) and Facetime calls (such as the one to the ambassador of Norway) to emphasise surveillance and Denmark's isolation from the rest of the world. Hamlet seems aware that he is being spied on, such as during his watched conversation with Ophelia or when he mimics Polonius talking into his hidden microphone.

 

Maxine Peake Production of a Hamlet Play 

The ghost is not there when they are talking about it - increases the ambiguity of the figure and what is stands for and will mean in the play. Very dark setting, literally, as you can only see the character's faces and clothes - the focus is completely on their actions and their emotions, so the audience can really engage with what they are saying. We see female actresses playing male characters - this could change what the characters stand for, and the way that the audience will interpret them. Costumes are quite basic - and don't reveal too much about the characters, possibly as the director wants their actions to reflect them rather than their appearances.

1996 film 

pathetic fallacy reflecting the nature of the action, snowy, windy and dark. More dramatic than the play. Opulent power is presented when they are all gathered together, attributes of wealth are portrayed. Polonius is portrayed as a politician and comedian at once, corrupt and comedic. Hamlet is dressed in all black (as he refuses to leave the mourning period) - he is angry, and outsider, and therefore a threat for Claudius as he is publicly humiliating him. Hamlet serves as a visual reminder of Claudius of his crime. There is a weird, slightly erotic relationship between Hamlet and his Gertrude, she can either be a passive and fallen figure, or, as a political survivor as she has managed to stay as Queen after her husband's death. The ghost is a symbol for corruption, ambiguity within the play as its whole figure and message is not completely clear at times to the reader, it is also a figure of pity as we feel so bad for it that the afterlife is terrifying. The ghost of Hamlet's father died with all his sins on his head because he was unable to be read the last rites (due to the fact that he was murdered) which would of dissolved his sins as he confessed them - which left the ghost in purgatory. 

RSC, Directed by David Farr (2013)

David Farr said that Hamlet is the character that audiences want to save or fall in love with. His production focused on the vulnerability of the character and his inability to deal with death and loss.

1966 Brannagh production

Flashbacks to scenes of Gertrude and Claudius flirting before the death of Old Hamlet, which emphasises the immorality of their actions as it was seen as an affair. There are also flashbacks of Hamlet and Ophelia’s sexual relationship

1984 Olivier film: Oedipus

After Hamlet says 'I must be cruel to be kind' in the bedroom scene, Hamlet and Gertrude go into a passionate kiss and embrace = Oedipus complex

Lindsay Turner 2015

Ophelia's madness = playing discordant notes on the piano - distancing herself from traditional expectations

RSC Godwin 2015

Hamlet is initially all dressed in black to represent his 'inky cloak', but then he changes into a white suit splattered with paint to represent his antic disposition.

1966 Brannagh coffin

Laertes jumps into Ophelia's coffin and takes her decaying body out of it - symbol of love? Hamlet and Laertes then both leap into the grave and physically fight each other... highlights the excessive authority they have over her which deprives Ophelia of autonomy even in death

Lyubimov 1989

had a grave present on stage the entire time, empathising death/fatality as a running theme

Pimlott 2001: love

Claudius and Gertrude's love is shown to be genuine. When Gertrude drinks the potion in 5.1, Claudius looks shocked and crawls across the floor to die with her