• Hamlet is a 'big' play - is this a play you've always wanted to direct?
  • Because Hamlet is so familiar to people, did you feel you had to do something new? And how did you decide which text to use?
  • There are not many stage directions and the different versions have the text in different orders - how did you deal with this?
  • Despite its position in the English canon, Hamlet is often described as a play about a man who can't make up his mind. So how do you made it into a thriller for a modern audience?
  • Why have you chosen modern dress for this production?
  • How did you investigate the text in rehearsals? Were there any images in the play that you found tricky?
  • The text is only one part of the play - how do you then develop it for being conveyed on the stage?
  • Are the religious references unintelligible for a modern audience? How did you tackle this aspect?
  • For the director, there are major decisions to make about the relationship Hamlet and Ophelia, and of Gertrude and Claudius. How did you tackle these?
  • Hamlet is called a 'gloomy Dane' but there are flashes of wit in your production - why is this?
  • What problems did you have in staging the ghost? How did you decide on the 'rules' of being a ghost?
  • This is the first play you have directed for the Courtyard's thrust stage. What have you learned about this thrust stage space? How does it change the relationship between the actors and the audience?
  • Are there any reference to Oedipus or Freud's analyses in your production? How did you develop Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude, and the idea of madness?
  • What are the major cuts you've made to the text and why?
  • Who makes the decisions in your rehearsals - you or the actors?
  • The rehearsal photographs show masks being used in rehearsals (which aren't used in the finished production). Why was this and how did the cast respond?

Hamlet is a 'big' play - is this a play you've always wanted to direct?

Act and Scene
Credit
RSC
Date
2008
Copyright
© RSC

Why have you chosen modern dress for this production?

Act and Scene
Credit
RSC
Date
2008
Copyright
© RSC

What are the major cuts you've made to the text and why?

Act and Scene
Credit
RSC
Date
2008
Copyright
© RSC

Who makes the decisions in your rehearsals - you or the actors?

Act and Scene
Credit
RSC
Date
2008
Copyright
© RSC

These clips are taken from a recording of the Director Talk public event on 4 August 2008 in the Courtyard Theatre. Interview by Paul Allen.

Download: transcript [PDF]

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