Hamlet at Iris Theatre

Set in a woefully undeveloped near-future dictatorship, sitting through the entirety of Daniel Winder’s Hamlet feels like being subjected to indiscriminate torment at the hands of a power-hungry director.

The audience take their seats outside St Paul’s, Covent Garden. Before the church doors, Rosencrantz stands guard with a sub-machine gun to witness the apparition of Hamlet’s late father. He films the ghost on a mobile and shows it to Hamlet (Jenet Le Lacheur) – end of Act I, scene I.

We’re unexpectedly asked to move to the West Garden where Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, the new King, is delivering a morning address to the nation. If this transition sounds odd, the audience thinks so too. Here is a list of times we were asked to move, with approximate minutes into the play.

First half:
St Paul’s Entrance (00:00)
West Garden (00:20)
St Paul’s Entrance (00:30)
Inside the Church (01:00)

Intermission

Second half:
East Garden (01:40)
West Garden (02:00)
East Garden (02:15)
West Garden (02:35)
Inside the Church (sometime towards the end)

An older couple struggles to navigate a too-dark garden path; an old man gains unsteady momentum down ill-lit plastic stairs with no handrail; elderly groups stand at the back, unsure where to sit after being moved from their chosen seats. And for what? A gimmick – a hurried “garden experience”? After sunset, the birds in St Paul’s garden sing their criticisms wittingly.

Director Winder sought to mix up gender roles – fine, that’s been done for 400 years. As Hamlet, Le Lacheur brings a new dimension. No longer a cisgender male prince, Hamlet isn’t just played by a transfeminine actor, Horatio repeatedly refers to “him” as “My Lady”. However, this scripting choice feels insufficiently explored and difficult to understand – everyone else calls him “My Lord” and he’s mad with love for Ophelia. If fictional gender is treated haphazardly, without explication, it forms a confusing narrative.

As a result, Iris Theatre’s Hamlet demands intertextual understanding: its audience must draw on existing story knowledge and map that onto an under-developed manifestation of its protagonist. Its one strength is that it challenges audiences to consider a transgender perspective. But given the play’s many, many failures, this isn’t sufficient.

Daniel McLeod

Hamlet is at Iris Theatre from 19^th June until 27^th July 2019. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.