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Monday March 3, 2003
Review: Hamlet
Death
Death is tackled in 1157performancegroup's production of Hamlet.

Richard Hollingum takes in Hamlet at The Mill despite extensive criticism and finds it a production that extends the boundaries of dramatic art.

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By Richard Hollingum

A performance group described by Radio 4's Today programme as "sick" and who chose to have that very comment written large on the front of their programme - they had to be worth seeing.

Hamlet by 1157performancegroup was an exploration into some of the facets of the Bard's play.

Subtitled "The Rest is Silence", the performance opens up issues of death and madness. Actually, to be more particular, the exploration was about the aftermath of death, the grieving period and its effect on those close to the deceased.

The small trio of performers - Matthew Scott, Kate Hargreaves and a very young Rosie Scott - read, acted and moved around a simple set, the significant part of which were screens and television monitors.

This was truly a curate's egg. There were scenes that made a great impression, such as the depiction of Ophelia's descent into madness; there were scenes that dragged on too long; there were scenes that did not fit in at all.

However, as an exploration of some of the major themes encapsulated in Hamlet, this worked well.

Companies like 1157performancegroup will always invite criticism, loud and free, but it is important that they carry out the work that they do - extending the boundaries of dramatic art and giving the audience much to think about and discuss.





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