Hamlet – Sydney Opera House (NSW)
Presented by Opera Australia. Directed by Neil Armfield AO. Conducted by Tim Anderson.
An immersive production to be experienced fully, appreciated and thought deeply about for many weeks to come, and remembered forever.
Reviewed by Juliana Payne
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Until 9th August, 2024
Families are the worst. How this aphorism plays out is writ large in this remarkable production of Hamlet by Opera Australia. This is no soapie, however. This is upscale drama, heightened by Brett Dean’s composition being played exquisitely, and by Matthew Jocelyn’s reworking of the script being sung superbly. The howling Antarctic wind that blew along Circular Quay on the approach to the theatre was a fitting precursor to the visceral performances awaiting us within.
Hamlet is possibly William Shakespeare’s most multilayered and complex plays, certainly the most performed. It has seen myriad interpretations and settings. This version pares back the plots and characters to an intensely focused family conflict. Instead of the usual operatic panoply, the audience’s gaze is focused as through a telescope on the five protagonists: the son, his dead father, his mother, his uncle, and the young woman who loves the son. The conflict that arises from their jealousy, resentment, self-loathing, disappointment, lies and regret, usually occurs at any given family Christmas gathering. But because this is Shakespeare and opera, it towers above mere humanity and takes on an epic demeanour.
Hamlet, Sydney Opera House (2024). Photo Credit: Keith Saunders.
The male leads are all highly accomplished. Allan Clayton has been perfecting this Hamlet for years, Rod Gilfry is appropriately sinuous as Claudius and Jud Arthur as old Hamlet’s ghost gives a wonderful physical performance redolent of the pitiful monster in James Whales’ Frankenstein.
The women, however, bring complex insights to this hothouse of male psychoses with their stunning singing and visceral acting skills. Lorina Gore is heartbreaking as Ophelia, sent over the edge by her family’s maltreatment as well as Hamlet’s arrogance, with none of the cutesy speeches about flowers. Catherine Carby’s Gertrude is gut-wrenching, as she realises the impact of her selfishness with deep regret. Her exit at the end of the first act is memorable, with hollow footsteps stumbling into the dark in an otherwise silent theatre. A truly stunning piece of physical theatre.
This is contemporary and challenging opera...
The staging and set are plain, tall white structured panels, so as not to distract from the tragic and all too common domestic drama playing out before us. They pick up on the theatrical tropes within the original play, and halfway through the panels are turned so that we see the backstage view, with pulleys and racks and props – almost like seeing the sausage being made. This staging technique also highlights the Freudian elements of Hamlet – the surging emotional seas that thrash beneath our civilised fronts that are displayed so dramatically in this performance. The eerie elements of the music, the percussion that happens behind the audience, enhances this sense of displacement and unease.
The intelligent redistribution of the text of the play focuses on the domestic relationships...
This is contemporary and challenging opera; no one walks away humming “Toreador en garde…”, It’s opera for aficionados. The music is complicated, and unnerving. The chorus members placed in the audience bring us into the drama; we are surrounded by and embedded in it. They sing as instruments, rather than as humans. It’s opera for scholars of Hamlet to debate the way the librettist has chopped up and re-ordered many of the famous speeches, with some being omitted altogether. The intelligent redistribution of the text of the play focuses on the domestic relationships, the harm that families and loved ones do to each other, wittingly or unwittingly, selfishly or with the best of intentions.
If this production were a dinner, it would be lobster with caviar, truffles, and foie gras, with a bottle of Dom Perignon. Not for amateurs, and not for the uninitiated. It is an immersive performance to be experienced fully, appreciated and thought deeply about for many weeks to come, and remembered forever.
CAST & CREATIVES
Composer Brett Dean
Libretto Matthew Jocelyn
Conductor Tim Anderson
Director Neil Armfield
Set Designer Ralph Myers
Costume Designer Alice Babidge
Lighting Designer Jon Clark
Sound Designer Bob Scott
Movement Director Denni Sayers
Hamlet Allan Clayton
Ophelia Lorina Gore
Claudius Rod Gilfry
Laertes Nicholas Jones
Polonius Kanen Breen
Horatio Samuel Dundas
Opera Australia Orchestra
Opera Australia Chorus
This season of Hamlet is dedicated to Jacqueline Dark (1968-2023). Jacqui was due to perform the role of Gertrude in this production before her passing.
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Amazing review