Hamlet is a 'big' play - is this a play you've always wanted to direct?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
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?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
There are not many stage directions and the different versions have the text in different orders - how did you deal with this?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
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?
- 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
How did you investigate the text in rehearsals? Were there any images in the play that you found tricky?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
The text is only one part of the play - how do you then develop it for being conveyed on the stage?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
Are the religious references unintelligible for a modern audience? How did you tackle this aspect?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
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?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
Hamlet is called a 'gloomy Dane' but there are flashes of wit in your production - why is this?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
What problems did you have in staging the ghost? How did you decide on the 'rules' of being a ghost?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
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?
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- RSC
- Date
- 2008
- Copyright
- © RSC
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?
- 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
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?
- 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]







