Hamlet [solo]

This production is a Stage Must-See!

Assembly at St George's, Edinburgh

There have been solo Hamlets before, but they’ve usually been generated by some interpretive or production concept.

Raoul Bhaneja’s performance is remarkable in being simply what it says, Shakespeare’s play performed by one actor, and for being so very successful at it. Bhaneja plays all the roles, distinguishing characters by some tag of accent or bearing - suave Claudius, stooped and doddering Polonius, and the like - and only rarely missteps - Gertrude is a bit too much of a drag queen - or leaves it uncertain who is speaking. His text is inevitably cut, but no more so than many ordinary productions, with the biggest losses being the Prayer Scene and every mention or appearance of Fortinbras.

This is, of course, an extraordinary technical achievement, both of memory and stamina, but it is much more than that. Bhaneja is a superb speaker of Shakespearean verse, making every line clear and conversational, so that whatever minor difficulties a neophyte might have in following the plot with only one actor there, no one will get lost in Shakespeare’s syntax or poetry. This is a production of Hamlet that many full companies could envy for its speed, clarity and theatricality.

Review by Gerald Berkowitz. Published Monday 20 August 2007