★★★★

“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.

THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE at the Noël Coward Theatre

★★★★★

“a stylish and stylised homage not just to a moment in time, but to theatre itself”

When Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole were filming the feature film ‘Becket’ in 1964, the two actors came to an agreement as a kind of joke. After the shoot was wrapped, they would each go on to play ‘Hamlet’ on the stage, either in London or New York. The London production would be directed by Laurence Olivier and the Broadway show by John Gielgud. To decide which, they tossed a coin. O’Toole won the toss and chose London and Olivier, leaving Burton to persuade Gielgud to fulfil his side of the wager. The production was a financial hit, achieving the longest running production of the play in Broadway history.

During rehearsals, the actor Richard L. Sterne decided to furtively record the conversations and the clashes as Burton (the modernist striving to be the classicist) squared up to Gielgud (the classicist striving to be the modernist). More than half a century later, the recordings of that ground-breaking moment in theatrical history were taken by Jack Thorne and moulded into an equally ground-breaking play; “The Motive and the Cue”. It is a stylish and stylised homage not just to a moment in time, but to theatre itself.

As the drama unfolds over a day-by-day account of the rehearsals, each scene is captioned with a surtitle lifted from Shakespeare’s text, some bearing a tenuous relevance to the action. The dynamic between Burton and Gielgud is established early on, simmering with electricity until later the sparks truly fly. In the middle ground is Elizabeth Taylor who foreshadows the confrontations, but also covertly and intricately smooths the way. Tuppence Middleton, as Taylor, wonderfully plays the outsider looking in, despite her own star status already. Johnny Flynn is the antagonist as a fiery yet vulnerable Burton. Often whisky-fuelled, he is forever on the verge of a fight, but in the verbal battles his mantle is torn to reveal hints of the fatherless boy seeking direction. Flynn harnesses the restless energy, while brilliantly capturing the rich tones of speech that still echo the valleys of South Wales.

“the overall feel is of a heartfelt tribute to a golden age of British Theatre”

It is Mark Gatiss, however, to whom the show truly belongs. We frequently catch ourselves believing the knight himself is up on the stage. Gatiss personifies Gielgud with a mix of intelligence, charm, pathos and acidity, coating his outstanding performance with mannerisms as detailed as they are emotionally revealing. Moments outside of the rehearsal room reveal the layers of self-doubt that plague these great players. One can assume that the original tape recordings were confined to the rehearsal room, so it is Thorne’s writing that powers these external, highly charged scenes. The power is beautiful and invariably moving, and Gatiss’ hold on the material is a master class in acting. Gielgud was in a fragile place at the time, aware that his position in the profession was precarious with a new kind of modern theatre creeping into the West End. He took the Broadway job because he wasn’t getting other offers.

There is much humour too in the piece, much of it aimed at theatre lovers (dare I use the term ‘luvvies’?). The ensemble cast supports the dominant trio tremendously. We often forget that these are actors in a play, playing actors playing roles in a play. Sarah Woodward as Eileen Herlie as Gertrude is particularly watchable, as is Luke Norris (playing William Redfield playing Guildenstern). Sam Mendes’ sophisticated production runs at close to three hours but not one moment is wasted, nor is our attention allowed to slip for one second. Excerpts from Shakespeare’s texts link the scenes on Es Devlin’s set that, with Jon Clark’s evocative lighting, switches from the harsh white light of the rehearsal room to the blood red hues of the Burton-Taylor lounge, to the cold blues of Gielgud’s hotel room.

The rehearsals are over, and the play reaches its conclusion as Burton prepares for opening night. The writers and performers alike are careful to avoid sentimentality. The result is an exceptionally moving finale. There is satire on the way, and some affectionate mocking of the key players, but the overall feel is of a heartfelt tribute to a golden age of British Theatre.

‘The Play is the Thing’. “The Motive and the Cue” is the thing: the play to see at the moment. Thoroughly modern. Instantly classic. No clash there at all.

Tag Archives: Ryan Ellsworth

HAMLET

★★★★

In Cinemas

HAMLET

In Cinemas

★★★★

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

HAMLET

National Theatre Live – In Cinemas from 22nd January 2026

Reviewed on 9th January 2026

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Sam Taylor

Hamlet

Hamlet

Hamlet

The Motive and the Cue

★★★★★

Noël Coward Theatre

THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE at the Noël Coward Theatre

★★★★★

“a stylish and stylised homage not just to a moment in time, but to theatre itself”

“the overall feel is of a heartfelt tribute to a golden age of British Theatre”