As you look through the images and photographs from past productions of Hamlet, think about:

• What choices the designer has made for both characters and what that shows you about them. As Hamlet confronts his mother and questions her motives, how does she react? What does each image suggest about Gertrude's attitude towards her son's behaviour?
• How the relationship between mother and son comes across in each production. Are they close? Is their relationship an equal one or does one character seem to have more control over the situation? Why might this be?
• Whether the productions are similar or different. In answering the above, are your responses different for certain production choices? Which ones stand out?
• What you think their relationship was like before Old Hamlet died. The language Hamlet uses when talking to his mother can also be graphic and sexual. What does this tell us about the relationship?

Where would you choose to set a production of Hamlet and what choices would you make to help show what Hamlet and Gertrude are like?

As you look through the images and photographs from past productions of Hamlet, think about:

• What choices the designer has made to make the ghost appear like it is from another world and a supernatural force. In the 2013 production the ghost is seen wearing the clothes he died in and is very pale. In several other productions you will also see the ghost dressed completely in white. What effect does this have? How does it compare to the 2016 production, where the ghost appears wearing bright colours and traditional dress?
• How you convince a modern audience that ghosts exist and help them to believe in what Hamlet is seeing. In the 2016 production, Simon Godwin set the play in an African royal family and explored the idea that there are many modern African cultures that believe in the presence of the supernatural. In this scene, Hamlet summoned his dead father using ritual. Do you think this could make it more understandable for a modern audience?
• How similar or different the productions are. How does an actor play a ghost? Can they rely on lighting, sound and design to achieve the effect? What other effects would you expect to create the sense that a ghost is on stage?

Where would you choose to set a production of Hamlet and what choices would you make to help show what the ghost is like?

As you look through the images and photographs from past productions of Hamlet, think about:

• What choices the designer has made for the set and what impact that has on the characters. Does the set design always represent a castle? You could set this play anywhere as long as all the characters are contained in the one location. In David Farr's 2013 production, for example, the stage is set out like a gym, with benches along the side of the stage. In Simon Godwin's 2016 production of Hamlet, the opening images of an African court show Claudius' new regime and contrast with Hamlet's chaotic artwork on display in his rooms. Hamlet even graffitis on the portrait of the new king and his mother during the play. What effect does this have? What kind of court do you imagine Elsinore to be?
• Why you think Shakespeare sets the play in one place. What impact does this have on the characters?
• How similar or different the productions are and why you think this is.

Where would you choose to set a production of Hamlet and what choices would you make to help show a country in disarray and a location that’s haunted by a ghost?

As you look through the images and photographs from past productions of Hamlet, think about:

• What choices the designer has made for both characters and what that shows you about them. What dynamic do you think father and daughter have in each of the images? Are they similar?
• How the relationship between Polonius and Ophelia comes across in each production. Is Polonius a controlling father figure? Is Ophelia defiant and, if so, why do you think she listens to her father? Is there any affection between them in these interpretations?
• What the similarities and differences are in these portrayals. In the 2018 touring production Polonius' attitude to his work makes him keen to impress the new king and secure his position at court but there is a lot of affection between him and his daughter. How is this shown?

Where would you choose to set a production of Hamlet and what choices would you make to help show what Polonius and Ophelia are like?