HAMLET

In Cinemas

★★★★

“revitalises the classic tragedy, landing with surprising warmth and clarity”

“The play’s the thing” and National Theatre Live remains one of the finest ways to share theatre widely. Kicking off the 2026 programme is ‘Hamlet’, captured from the Lyttelton Theatre run in 2025. Robert Hastie’s refreshingly modern production thrills, chills and fizzes with life, offering theatre devotees and casual viewers alike a compellingly atmospheric start to the new year.

The King is dead and Prince Hamlet suspects foul play. But in a world thick with treachery and madness, will the players hold their course or be pulled under?

Shakespeare’s haunting poetry is re energised as a vivid study of grief and emotional unravelling, balanced by surprising warmth and humour. Robert Hastie’s direction is assured and electrifying. The genuinely unsettling opening scene sets the tone, with ominous lighting, sound and even poltergeist jolts continuing to disturb the peace. Almost all the major characters receive a pleasingly layered interpretation. We lean into Hamlet’s ‘madness’, soliloquising beyond Elsinore’s physical bounds, firing real shots from an imagined gun, and communing with a sometimes-absent ghost, all the while disguising his deterioration with levity and biting quips. Claudius is unexpectedly sympathetic, displaying calm resolve and even genuine concern. His confession feels searching and his death becomes a defiant surrender rather than a forced poisoning. Ophelia’s arc shifts from romantic heartbreak to the crushing weight of her father’s murder, helped by a warmly awkward, devoted Polonius. Gertrude is the only major role that feels comparatively under developed. Overall, the production excels in emotional clarity, landing every line with purpose.

Ira Mandela Siobhan’s movement direction and Kate Waters’ fight choreography drive the energy, delivering slick, realistic sequences that culminate in a final duel brimming with passion.

Richard Taylor’s superb score moves from eerie, unsettling textures to frantic orchestrations, using silence as deftly as sound. The offstage Carducci quartet (Matthew Denton, Michelle Fleming, Eoin Schmidt-Martin, Emma Denton) deserve praise for their masterful execution.

Ben Stones’ set and costume design has a ‘Saltburn’ esque blend of grandeur and bleakness, balancing imposing scale with striking simplicity. When the set unexpectedly deconstructs for Ophelia’s funeral, it exposes the superficiality of Elsinore’s stateliness – simple yet richly layered.

Jessica Hung Han Yun’s lighting is superb, shifting effortlessly between psychological states. Opening in darkness with sparse torchlight infuses powerlessness and mistrust. Pulses of light sync perfectly with eerie glissandos, deepening the haunted atmosphere.

Alexandra Faye Braithwaite’s sound design captures the sense of isolation beautifully, though a little background noise from over sensitive mics creeps into the final mix.

Hiran Abeysekera delivers a remarkable Hamlet, embodying the Prince with clarity, precision and surprising sparkle, and holds focus throughout – no mean feat on a stage let alone a screen! Alistair Petrie’s Claudius is equally compelling, a masterclass in understatement. For once, I find myself sympathising. Francesca Mills’ Ophelia is funny, grounded and utterly real in a role that’s too often flattened. Tom Glenister’s Laertes is the perfect match, showing us true grief. Geoffrey Streatfeild’s Polonius is unexpectedly endearing, making his death quietly devastating. Aside from Ayesha Dharker’s slightly enigmatic Gertrude and a few stylised turns here and there, the ensemble is outstanding, breathing life into the oppressive Elsinore.

Not forgetting the production teams for this recording, the filming and editing do real justice to the performance.

National Theatre Live’s ‘Hamlet’ revitalises the classic tragedy, landing with surprising warmth and clarity. You’ll see the play in a new light, so catch it in cinemas while you can.

HAMLET

National Theatre Live – In Cinemas from 22nd January 2026

Reviewed on 9th January 2026

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Sam Taylor

Hamlet

★★★★

“a play that leaves its audience with such an infectious sense of joy”

A Christmas Carol – it’s a story many of us know so well. Based on Charles Dickens’ novel, the Watermill Theatre’s Christmas production is a charming and moving retelling of the famous tale. “A story is a candle in a dark place,” begins our narrator moments before the candle floats in front of us. We are assured that this tale will be a magical one. When Scrooge’s long dead business partner appears in his bedroom, weighed down by chains, he tells Scrooge that three ghosts will come to him, the ghost of Christmas past, present and Christmas yet to come. Across the course of the evening, Christmas Eve to be specific, the three ghosts visit the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge to show him what life lived in greed will bring him, and to remind him of how he became the man he is today . This is a story of the human capacity to change for the better and it is a heart-warming watch. Danielle Pearson’s adaptation, directed by Georgie Straight, pivots around this sense of a second chance. It is a touching and universal story, full of the harshness of life and the joy of it.

The show is a two-hander, and our two actors Pete Ashmore and Tilly-Mae Millbrook handle their many parts with ease. Ashmore’s Scrooge undergoes an incredibly moving transformation, from the gruff, merciless man we first meet to the joyfully energetic and generous figure the play ends with. Millbrook as the Narrator is warm and playful, bringing the audience into her tale. Between them they also play everyone else, made unrecognisable by a change of accent and a floral scarf. Designed by Emily Barratt, each costume detail denoting a different character is vivid and sufficient.

The set, which features dark bricks and hanging washing, is designed by Isobel Nicholson. A piano is disguised as Bob Cratchitt’s desk branded with Scrooge and Marley’s sign. Several of the ghosts are created through set – a lantern reimagined and a cloaked shape falling from the ceiling. Creating such a multi-role show with only two actors could have proved a real challenge, but the show has been conceived in such a way – through script, costume and design, that we never want for more actors than we have onstage. Clever sound design by Tom Marshall creates the sense of bustling streets and heightens each ghost’s arrival. Harry Armytage’s lighting design is equally clever: two windows at the back of the stage are lit and filled with silouhettes from the cobwebs of Camden to groups of party guests gathered together.

The show is punctuated with beautiful harmonised renditions of classic Christmas songs which the actors sing and accompany themselves, on violin, clarinet and piano. Both are accomplished players and Ashmore’s violin playing is particularly impressive and evocative.

Every element of this show is lovely, well made, detailed, delivered by a faultless cast and creative team. The Watermill Theatre handles the Covid-19 restrictions fantastically and patiently, and it is a pleasure to be back in a theatre again, especially to see a play that leaves its audience with such an infectious sense of joy and the possibility of human nature.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Pamela Raith

Tag Archives: Georgie Staight

HAMLET

★★★★

In Cinemas

HAMLET

In Cinemas

★★★★

“revitalises the classic tragedy, landing with surprising warmth and clarity”

HAMLET