Hamlet
Director: Andrea Breth
Writer: William Shakespeare
Cast: August Diehl, Hans-Michael Rehberg, Roland Koch, Andrea Clausen, Udo Samel

Plot:
Prince Hamlet (August Diehl) just returned to Denmark after his father’s death. His mother Gertrud (Andrea Clausen) has quickly remarried – and who else but Hamlet’s uncle Claudius (Roland Koch)? But Hamlet’s father (Hans-Michael Rehberg) still haunts the castle grounds and he tells Hamlet that it was his own brother who killed him. Now it’s upon Hamlet to set things right again. But Hamlet’s grasp on sanity is slipping. Or maybe that is all a ruse?

I’ve heard good things about this production of Hamlet and I’m a big fan of August Diehl, so I knew that I had to go and see it, despite it being over five hours long. Unfortunately it was a disappointing experience.

The Burgtheater is a beautiful theater, but unfortunately it is one of the hottest places in the world. I knew that and I came in the most summery clothes. But it was still unbelievably hot and there was not a bit of oxygen to be had in the entire place. I was not particularly tired when I started watching the plac, but I was unable to keep myself awake. After falling asleep every couple of minutes for two acts, I decided I would not see the third act. So I can’t give you a full review of the play.

But I do know that the heat wasn’t the only problem. Rarely have I seen a more boring production of Hamlet. Everybody was dressed in black or white, the stage was brown, it was all practically as monochrome as reality is ever going to get. Which is particularly sad because the stage design had some great parts – the swamp, for example, where Hamlet’s father appears was awesome. It would have just needed a bit more diversity.

The cast was good – Breth’s Hamlet is not a very sympathetic figure (she’s more with Ophelia and Gertrud in this play, which I generally appreciated) and Diehl seems to revel in playing Hamlet the asshole.

But watching an asshole for five long hours in unbearable heat is not exactly my idea of a good time. So I don’t actually regret leaving early and sleeping for good chunks of the rest.

Summarizing: Only for hardcore fans.

[Photos by Bernd Uhlig.]