ED2011 3/5 Reviews ED2011 Theatre Reviews

Hamlet House Of Horror (Westminster Theatre Company)

By Lynsey Martenstyn | Published on Thursday 11 August 2011

Shakespeare adaptations are like steak: even though everyone has different preferences, the quality of product will always be noticed. ‘Hamlet House of Horror’ is a good production, but not to my purist taste: if Glee performed Hamlet for a Halloween special episode, this would be it. Like the TV series, the production’s strongest element was the music and choreography. Multi-instrumentalist Max Barton, who played the Ghost, superbly maintained the captivating acoustic score and sound effects. The production uses the first quarto of Hamlet as it “gave them licence to push boundaries of performance further”. An adaptation that excludes the ‘To Be’ soliloquy to include a pseudo-wrestling match in the penultimate scene, to “push boundaries of performance” isn’t justifiable. Entertaining, nevertheless.

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 1 – 29 Aug, 5.30pm (6.45pm), £9.50 – 10.50, fpp 268.
tw rating 3/5
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