Hamlet - 21st January 2012

Most seasons produce one must see theatrical event and the end of 2011 saw Ian Rickson's long-awaited " Hamlet" arrive at the Young Vic. In the last couple of year's Jude Law and Rory Kinnear's portrayal of the Prince of Denmark both acquired critical acclaim and it was now time for Michael Sheen to throw his hat into the ring.

Having been entranced by one of his earliest performances, as Mozart in the revival of "Amadaeus" at the end of the last century, I have followed his career with interest. We saw his last performance as "Hamlet" and although I tried to avoid the reviews I was aware of the unusual staging of this production.

It was still, however, exciting to arrive half an hour early and be escorted round the outside of the Young Vic (fortunately this was a mild January evening). We were then led through the various sections of the Psychiatric hospital in which "Hamlet" was housed.

Like most unusual ideas some parts worked better than others. The concept of the authority figures in the institution being the Danish Royal family made sense but I never quite understood whether he was mad because of the murder of his father the King or he was just a fantasist. As I watched it I thought the acting was odd, if not downright bad, until it dawned on me that all the actor's were in the Dane's head and therefore all the characters were distorted from reality.

Like all "Hamlet"'s the success of the production revolves around the lead actor. The phrase " Best Actor Of His Generation" is over-used but Michael Sheen definitely deserves a nomination and no-one can convey suffering and turmoil like the former Port Talbot resident. He of course had the advantage of being the only "real" performance on stage but decided to make life even more difficult for himself. Not content with playing the largest of Shakespeare's roles he also portrayed the Ghost King and uniquely, I believe, Fortinbras.

This isn't an easy show to watch as your brain is constantly working over-time to understand what you are seeing. Ian Rickson is currently in a Directing creative golden period fresh from the deserved triumph of "Jerusalem". He has taken one of the most famous plays of all time and makes you re-evaluate it completely. He is less than reverential with the piece and playfully chooses to end the first half ( in mid-act) with Roy Orbison's " Crying". A choice as inpsired as it was odd.

Normally, the end of the play with bodies scattered everywhere is downbeat but the unexpected appearance of Michael Sheen as the conquering hero was, for me, the key that unlocked the mystery of the past few hours (though it took me a couple of days to work it out). It was a theatrical coup de grace.

(An unexpected bonus was that it enabled me to make sense of Tom Stoppard's " Rozencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead" a few days later).