Review of Shakespeare's Hamlet (Directed by Simon Godwin) Essay Example

The play I will be discussing will be Hamlet by Simon Godwin. I think that this play was an amazing modern adaptation of the original play. This adaptation of the original play, Hamlet, still takes place in Denmark although the characters, costumes, props, and some sound elements seem to be inspired and derived from African Origin. It follows a young grieving son, Hamlet, who seeks to take revenge upon his uncle who has killed his father. It tells of a story of death and betrayal. 

In the original Hamlet, Bernardo, Marcellus, and Francisco are sentries, which are soldiers whose job is to protect and guard a place or person. Their costumes consist of a military uniform, a beret, and hand-held firearms. These costumes support the play because the military uniforms, berets, and firearms indicate that the three of them are soldiers, and where they are placed on the set and what they say in the script indicate as such. These things also reflect the director's vision of the play to modernize it because in the original, the sentries had swords, spears, shields, and metal armor, while the soldiers in this adaptation have modern military uniforms and weaponry. During the scene where the spirit of Hamlet's father comes down to speak with him about how his uncle was the one that killed him, he is seen wearing what looks like to be authentic and traditional clothing that would be worn by royalty during a ritual or tradition, like a funeral. This also supports the director's vision of making the play their own adaptation by including different cultural aspects, which in this case seem to be African inspired. The traditional clothing still remains as it is used respectfully although it is displayed in a situation in which it might have been portrayed as disrespectful.

While watching the play, I saw that the actor playing Hamlet, Paapa Essiedu, showed real emotions and displayed some action that made it seem as if the way he was feeling was real. The Paapa Essiedu was dramatic with how he spoke and showed true emotion because when he while he was talking, saliva was dripping out of his mouth, he was spitting everywhere, and there were tears coming out of his eyes. This can be seen when the spirit of his father comes to speak with Paapa Essiedu about how his horrible uncle killed him as he begs for him to seek revenge on his behalf. The actor who plays Horatio, Hiran Abeysekera, also surprised me by how well he played his role. When Paapa Essiedu and Hiran Abeysekera hug when they see each other, the relationship and friendship that they have seems very genuine and real. Hiran Abeysekera displays realistic reactions and expectancies of a friend while also being advisor to Paapa Essiedu.

I think that the director's vision in this play was to remain true to how the story and plot of the original play was but to make it his own and showing that it is HIS adaptation by including African derived/inspired culture by including traditional clothing, props, and accents. I think that the use of African inspired props, costumes, and clothing works because the things that the play uses is the equivalent of what was used in the original. I think that the director's vision was to also modernize this play as the soldiers/sentinels from the play compared to Godwin's adaptation, use old weapons and armor like metal armor, spears, and shields while the director's uses modern day military uniforms and firearms. The director still stays true to the play by having the script be in Shakespearean English. I am not sure if I just haven't seen that many plays before but when I watched it, the actors really show true emotion with the use of actions that would dramatize it. So I would also say that the director's vision was to also really show the emotions of the actors. 

Based on the evidence that I have provided, I would say that from the way that the actors do their job at performing, to the design elements that they use, like traditional African clothing and modernized elements, to staying true to the original Hamlet by using Shakespearean English and storyline, I would say that the play works with the author's vision. I really would like to commend the actors in this play because the way they performed their role awed me as I have never in my life seen anyone show true emotion like Paapa Essiedu and Hiran Abeysekera did.