I am a huge Benedict Cumberbatch fan. HUGE. I have watched every episode of Sherlock probably twice by now (which is pretty intense because each episode is 90 minutes long) and have taken so many Buzzfeed quizzes just because they mention his name. But even more than that, I’m a big Shakespeare fan. I love the intense emotional connection he pours into his plays and the constant suspense. In a way, he writes with a sense of realism. Even though the plots of his plays are rather hard to relate, the feelings invoked in each character are eerily real. Shakespeare (or whoever his cowriters were) wrote plays that have the unique characteristic of being able to transcend time to still be relevant to an audience centuries later.

Benedict Cumberbatch addresses this perfectly. As biased as I am towards him, I will try to put that aside for the purposes of this post. He really reaches the inner complexity of a character as famous as Hamlet. But even aside from that, the production itself was mesmerizing: particularly the lights. Without giving away too many spoilers, there was one scene that I will never be able to forget–a character sets off to a questionable suicide and right before she goes, the lights turn completely white and she appears to pull herself into a different world. It gave me the chills.

Actually, prior to this play I hadn’t read Hamlet at all, so I just googled a summary before I went to the event. But after watching this production, I spend the weekend reading the original work. Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything I would have changed. The director was very smart in his choices and he really made the most of an already incredible play. I tried to take some pictures with my phone, but I couldn’t do it justice. So I copied some pictures off the internet for you (these pictures are actually exactly the same quality we watched at Cinemapolis):

I was very excited to see Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and the play did not disappoint. I studied Hamlet my senior year of high school, and I was impressed by the universality of the themes, despite the age of the play. In his intro to the play, Cumberbatch talked about the themes of the play and how even now people can relate to Hamlet. Another aspect of Hamlet that was discussed when I read it in high school were the major filmed versions of the play, and how they chose to use modern props, or if they were used at all. The version I saw in highschool was very traditional, but Cumberbatch’s version featured many semi modern props, such as telephones and record players, and the costumes were mismatched between periods. I found it quite amusing to see Hamlet in pants from the 17th century, converse, and a David Bowie band tee.

Other aspects of the play were beautifully executed, from the acting to the staging. The set was beautiful. It was stationary, and props were moved in and out. The stage seemed really deep, and the lighting was extremely well utilized. The music was also beautiful, and I loved the way the lights and music were used together to imitate things like an angry ghost, a storm, or a train.

I also enjoyed the opportunity to bond with other scholars over the play, studying Shakespeare, and our cumberbatch obsessions. It was the best way to spend a few hours of a stressful week.

I had the distinct honor and privilege of being able to watch West End’s live broadcasted production of Hamlet. The production featured Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role and Ciaran Hinds as Hamlet’s uncle, the king. As someone who had never seen Hamlet performed before (though also as someone who is a fan of Shakespeare), I fell in love with the production.

Hamlet poster via National Theatre Live

Seeing Benedict Cumberbatch outside of his iconic role of Sherlock Holmes on BBC was riveting. He really pushed himself to his limits trying to understand this character and find a way to make Hamlet his own. One of the more memorable moments was right before he delivered his famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, he marched on the tables in slow motion in an Elizabethan soldier’s uniform. I found the mix of 20th century modern and Elizabethan dress to be a bit confusing, but at the same time fitting to Hamlet’s bursts of outrage. I took this particular scene to be simply Hamlet simply emphasizing his madness by playing around as a soldier, but I’m still trying to find if there was any particular motivation behind this combination of old and new. Perhaps having Ophelia carrying around a camera and Horatio walking around in sneakers and a backpack was to make the audience feel more relatable to the material presented in the play? I’m still not entirely sure, but it was interesting to see these classic Shakespearean characters walk around in Converse sneakers and David Bowie t-shirts.

Also, the whole performance took place on a stationary stage, keeping the same background of the interior of a mansion. The whole stage was neat and pristine, adding staircases and side doors for different scenes that may have taken place in different locations entirely within the original play. I also loved the use of trap doors at the bottom of the stage, serving as a disappearance for Hamlet’s father’s ghost and Ophelia’s gravesite. By the beginning of the second act, the whole stage was covered in rubble  — this addition definitely added to the dark atmosphere the original play wanted to create.

Anastasia Hille and Benedict Cumberbatch on stage at the Barbican Theatre.

One thing that bothered me throughout viewing this production was the use of guns instead of swords. My ongoing fear with guns in any play, TV show, or movie is that they can be fired at any time. Luckily with this production, any time guns were used, they were for display or for threatening purposes. I get the need to use guns in a modern sense of defense, but Shakespeare most often used swords in his works. What was the use of having guns if the fight scene in the finale between Hamlet and Ophelia’s brother would still use swords? If the guns had been obliterated entirely, it would have been a much better production. There are other ways to include modern elements in a story, such as through the music and clothing.

Overall, seeing this production was an experience I’ll never forget. Watching one of my favorite stars take on such a demanding role was fantastic, and I can’t wait to see what else he has in store (hint: I’ll surely be watching his performance as Marvel’s Doctor Strange next year). And while Hamlet proved to be a great experience, my favorite Shakespearean play remains to be Othello.

Whether or not you like Shakespeare, you have to admit the guy was a genius. He wrote plays that somehow transcended time and still stayed relevant to modern audiences, and Hamlet is no different. Out of all the Shakespeare I’ve ever read, this play is easily my favorite. It has everything – tragedy, ghosts, friendship, romance, humor, and some wickedly good insults. Seriously, those comebacks are pure genius.

But with so many different performances over literally centuries, trying to come up with something that’s both engaging to a modern audience and satisfying to the stalwart Shakespearean purist seems virtually impossible. Hamlet is something that seemingly every important British actor has tackled at least once. The character itself is so rich, and the play brings up so many questions that nobody can ever really answer. This production managed to do this justice, and to bring something new to the role of Hamlet. That’s simply amazing to me. The staging brought an almost Gothic horror element to it, with the dark set, reverberating sound effects, and ghostly lighting. This contrasted beautifully with the modern clothing and apocalyptic destruction of the scenery in the second act to bring out the timeless quality of the play. And of course, the cast. The actors and actresses themselves brought the play to life, each with some new insight into their character that made an age-old play a modern masterpiece.

The new version of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which is a filmed version of a live play performed recently in London, was far from what I expected. There were certain aspects that I definitely enjoyed, such as the elegant prose and the artful stage set, but there were other aspects that I was not overly fond of.

Sticking to the original lines and plot, the play seemed to suggest a traditional reenactment. However, perhaps for the purpose of appearing to be timeless, the characters were dressed in an array of seemingly random clothes from different time periods. The props, too, from guns to cameras to electric lights, betrayed the traditional setting. While some in the audience enjoyed this artistic bravery, I found it distasteful and distracting. It was outright strange to see Benedict Cumberbatch dressed in golden sneakers, a band T-shirt, a gaudy coat, and mis-matched pants while eloquently delivering Elizabethan lines with utmost formality and expressiveness. The inconsistency seemed to undermine the authenticity and the feel that should accompany a classic. There are many ways to bring new life to an age-old story that in themselves remind us that certain themes are as relevant today as they have ever been, but I think that jumbling time periods as was done in this rendering of the play was not a wise choice, and will perhaps render Cumberbatch’s interpretation obsolete very quickly.

In other ways the play was excellent, such as the way it was choreographed. The transition scenes, particularly, were visually appealing and were accompanied by great music that was very dramatic. The use of the stage was impressive, as it created an illusion of depth and dynamic complexity that changed from scene to scene. At one part, the stage seemed to stretch back endlessly, as Ophelia resolutely marched to her suicide. The use of lightning, too, made a huge impact in the way emotions were conveyed and particular characters were brought to prominence. There were certain scenes where Hamlet would begin a soliloquy and all would fade into the shadows except for him, to bring full attention to his thoughts. Meanwhile, in the background, the actor would continue to move in slow motion so that when the full lightning returned, there was a seamless transition into the next scene.

Watching Hamlet was certainly an interesting experience. The play succeeded in making itself very understandable despite the complex language. It was also ambitious in its attempt to appeal to the people of today. Though long (probably the only movie I’ve ever watched that had an intermission), the story was intriguing and was well-acted.

Attending last night’s performance of Hamlet was a truly unforgettable experience. The play was a screening of the production from the National Theatre in London starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet. I had read Hamlet in high school but never seen it performed, so I was excited to see how this production would bring Shakespeare’s classic to life.

The one thing that initially surprised me about the production was its mixing of different time periods in the costuming of the characters. The first scene opened with Hamlet listening to big band music on a record player, and many of the characters including the King and Queen were dressed in 1940s era clothes. Hamlet, however, wore sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt for most of the play, and his friend Horatio had tattoos and a backpack. I’m not sure what the significance of these costume designs was supposed to be, but I was surprised at how smoothly I felt the words of the play fit into a more modern setting.

For me the highlight of the performance was Cumberbatch’s brilliantly nuanced portrayal of Hamlet, in which he was able to show both Hamlet’s overpowering grief for his father and his humorous side in the comic scenes. My favorite scenes were a few of his soliloquys during which the lights would focus on him while the rest of the cast was moving in slow motion in the darkness behind him. I felt this staging beautifully emphasized how Hamlet’s internal struggles alienated him from those around him.

Watching this production gave me a new appreciation for this classic, and reminded me that reading Shakespeare can never compare to seeing it performed on a stage.