Review by Alison Stoddart
The complex character of Hamlet and his preoccupation with life and death has finally landed at the Sydney Opera House in the form of an opera written by Matthew Jocelyn and composed by Brett Dean. After performances at the Metropolitan Opera of New York and the Adelaide Festival, Opera Australia’s Hamlet comes to the Joan Sutherland Theatre directed by Neil Armfield. Tenor Allan Clayton, wearing modern day jacket and pants and looking very (Jack Black) dishevelled, plays Hamlet. His friend Horatio is similarly costumed which forms a sharp contrast to the rest of the cast who are attired in traditional period costumes.
Along with the elegant costumes, an extraordinary set design brings the castle of Elsinore to the stage as moveable panels and soaring doorways are assembled to portray the dark corridors and turrets of the castle, then reassembled to provide the lightness of the fancy Danish court.
The second half, after a 30 minute interval, began with a nod to the Globe Theatre in England where Shakespeare was performed as theatre in the round. The ensemble cast, lining the aisles of the stalls seating area, performed close enough to touch for those seated at the end of rows.
But it is the orchestra, and Brett Dean’s score, which steals the show. More often than not, playing quite dirge infused music, the sombreness reflects the madness and dilemma’s that Hamlet finds himself in. A lighter touch to the score may have benefited when Ophelia (performed beautifully by Lorina Gore) performed her lament over her father’s death, especially in tandem with her handing out flowers, and also again with her death procession, but the lightest and most uplifting piece of music came when Hamlet decides to fight Laertes.
Supporting the orchestra in their pit are singers and musicians placed in the upper loge or box areas. The audience is surrounded by unconventional sounds like the rasping of a washboard to create the eeriness associated with the appearance of Hamlet’s father’s ghost.
With a running time of 3 hours and 25 minutes, Opera Australia’s Hamlet is one for the aficionados. Lovers of opera first and foremost is a requisite for this production, with a working knowledge of Shakespeare’s Hamlet a bonus, but following the narrative or not, attending to hear the glorious voices of Clayton, Gore and the rest of the ensemble is reason enough to venture out on a cold winter’s night in Sydney.
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