The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0743  Monday, 28 August 2006

From: 		Philip Parr <
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Date: 		Saturday, 26 Aug 2006 10:38:58 +0100
Subject: 	Hamlet: The Actors Cut - Pitlochry

List members will remember that at the beginning of the summer (UK) a 
production of the First Quarto version of Hamlet at the Pitlochry 
Theatre in Scotland was announced.

Taking a day off from the Edinburgh Festivals circus, I had the pleasure 
of attending the opening night on Wednesday, and would commend this 
production to all as the clearest production of Hamlet that I have seen. 
Acting (there is a company of 9) is uniformly excellent, with some fine 
character delineation within those playing multiple smaller roles. John 
Durnin's direction is sharp and on a bare stage relies on clarity of 
thought and intention rather than gimmick and effect. I have one nagging 
question about a production choice, but will explore it with John at a 
later date, and will not raise it here as a spoiler.

As a practitioner rather than an academic, I won't comment on the 
nuances of the textual differences other than to say that the variations 
of scenes and lines make for a refreshing absence of clich