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hamlet is a multiverse
Aug. 14th, 2008 04:36 pmi have been avoiding posting about the RSC's current production of hamlet because it's pretty much bound to be completely embarrassing if i reveal the actual depth of the existential angst i have been experiencing by knowing that this production is happening but that i CAN'T SEE IT. there is a mathematical formula i have come up with that begins to convey it:
prof_ + unavailable(hamlet[tennantxstewart]) = ;___________; x FOREVER
god i'm lame.
but seriously! HAMLET. anyone who's been around my journal for the long haul will know a little about the essays, installations, comics, and choose-your-own-adventures i have created based around hamlet (not to mention the icons. oh man). hamlet is one of those stories that i find endlessly fascinating and endlessly fruitful to explore. hamlet is a limitless mirror for society and a bottomless well of self-reflection for humanity. every production has a different thing to say, every performance. hamlet is a multiverse of possibilities.
i think anything that reaches a certain level of cultural importance becomes a kind of multiverse within which can be found a sort of medium for playing with our ideas of ourselves, our relationships, our culture, our history, the universe as a whole. hamlet is probably the most important and time-honoured example of this development ever (outside the purview of religion, of course -- that is a whole other essay. or... million).
it's not that hamlet is the best play that was ever written, although it is really quite good, it's that it was produced at just the place, in just the right time, so that it has become a symbol for human endeavour and creativity that far outweighs it's importance as a play merely. it's HAMLET.
so anyway i've been on the lookout for reviews of the current RSC production with david tennant and patrick stewart. patrick stewart is my favourite claudius of all time, guys! i have yet to find anyone even approach the depth and complexity of his claudius. i want to see him now, 28 years later, and even more amazing and layered and moving. everything i've read so far indicates that to be the case, which makes me incredibly excited, even though i can't see it.
also, i am so glad that david tennant is apparently Quite Good, with the chance (some even say almost certainty) of his performance maturing into one of the greats.
( links to reviews and a bit of teal deer )
oh how i wish someone would post a picture of the scene with the ghost. guess i will have to go with a photo from my other favourite scene, namely act III scene iv, when hamlet goes to gertrude's closet after the play:
seriously, RSC. record this.
prof_ + unavailable(hamlet[tennantxstewart]) = ;___________; x FOREVER
god i'm lame.
but seriously! HAMLET. anyone who's been around my journal for the long haul will know a little about the essays, installations, comics, and choose-your-own-adventures i have created based around hamlet (not to mention the icons. oh man). hamlet is one of those stories that i find endlessly fascinating and endlessly fruitful to explore. hamlet is a limitless mirror for society and a bottomless well of self-reflection for humanity. every production has a different thing to say, every performance. hamlet is a multiverse of possibilities.
i think anything that reaches a certain level of cultural importance becomes a kind of multiverse within which can be found a sort of medium for playing with our ideas of ourselves, our relationships, our culture, our history, the universe as a whole. hamlet is probably the most important and time-honoured example of this development ever (outside the purview of religion, of course -- that is a whole other essay. or... million).
it's not that hamlet is the best play that was ever written, although it is really quite good, it's that it was produced at just the place, in just the right time, so that it has become a symbol for human endeavour and creativity that far outweighs it's importance as a play merely. it's HAMLET.
so anyway i've been on the lookout for reviews of the current RSC production with david tennant and patrick stewart. patrick stewart is my favourite claudius of all time, guys! i have yet to find anyone even approach the depth and complexity of his claudius. i want to see him now, 28 years later, and even more amazing and layered and moving. everything i've read so far indicates that to be the case, which makes me incredibly excited, even though i can't see it.
also, i am so glad that david tennant is apparently Quite Good, with the chance (some even say almost certainty) of his performance maturing into one of the greats.
( links to reviews and a bit of teal deer )
oh how i wish someone would post a picture of the scene with the ghost. guess i will have to go with a photo from my other favourite scene, namely act III scene iv, when hamlet goes to gertrude's closet after the play:
seriously, RSC. record this.
