Tag: shakespeare

“She’s like no one I’ve ever met … She’s like fire and water all at once”

I was very pleased to be invited to watch he page-to-stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, which opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon last week. For someone who hadn’t been to the the Swan Theatre – which did in fact open in 1986 – I’d not have been able to tell you about this intimate space which includes a deep thrust stage across three sides and can hold up to 469 patrons in theatre at full capacity. The space had gone through a major refurbishment since the COVID-19 pandemic (upgrades include bench seating being shelved for individual seats that are more commonly found in most theatres across the UK), and this certainly enhanced my experience.

The place centres around William Shakespeare – more importantly his son Hamnet who *spoiler alert* doesn’t survive past the eleventh year of his life. Often a footnote in history (as noted in the programme), both writers Maggie O’Farrell and Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn) offer a fresh take on this domestic drama set in the sixteenth century.

We’re transported to Warwickshire in 1582, where Agnes Hathaway meets a latin tutor William (Shakespeare). They’re very quickly getting it on, and start to make a family.  Though the stage play is not lifted from the book exactly in its chronological order – for me, the opening scenes of the book packs a real punch – it still very much carries the essence of the book  and possesses a seamless transition from page-to-stage as is evident at all moments of this production. Lolita Chakrabarti dazzles in her re-telling of the  family of the famous ‘latin tutor’. The direction by Erica Whyman is slick, and brings the words uttered by history’s most famous playwright to be performed in such a vivid way; at times, we watch the set’s glorious wooden ladders turn in 45 degrees and they remind us of Agnes’ omnipresent nature. A feature that impressed me was the lighting of this production – designed by Prima Mehta – with heightened moments when lights showed a clever shadow-esque effect through the rungs of the ladder; that was really mesmerising visual that elevated the storytelling.

It may be a seemingly simple task, to bring literary works to the stage, but this conversion of the  was a solid attempt at crafting a world that transports you to real-life setting of Stratford-Upon-Avon. At the interval, I spoke to my seat neighbour who happened to be the Mayoress of the city who proclaims how important it is for representation (she herself is one of the only women to have taken on the role since the first woman in 1928 when women received the right to vote) so to have visibly diverse actors was rather refreshing take on this story.

The acting chops of all on stage was rather unanimously impressive, with a special mention for Madeleine Mantock, Obioma Ugoala and Tom Carey. As the story takes creative license on the lives of this messy family, it showcases some deeper moments of how the patriarchy can be distilled throughout the generations. With the inevitable death of Hamnet looming, the supsense built kept me on edge – and I also felt really moved by the more emotional elements to the finally scenes of the play.