You can't help wondering why a company that whittled Hamlet down to 90 minutes needs two-and-a-half hours for a relatively obscure Chekhov story. |
Having won the fight, Hamlet married his brother's widow Gertrude who acquired the status of jointress rather than that of queen dowager. |
He jabbers, raves, and gestures to no one, in contradiction to the more subdued Hamlet of productions such as the 2000 Ethan Hawke film version. |
Perhaps what takes Hamlet so much time in the play is that a ritual of abasement needs to performed. |
At the core of Hamlet is a domestic triangle in which Claudius's stepson does his level best to break up his mother's remarriage. |
The relationship lasted almost ten years, until the pair worked together in an acclaimed production of Hamlet. |