The Play's The Thing – Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Wilton's Music Hall, Grace's Alley, London E1 until 12 April 2025, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: stagesnaps.

The Play's The Thing – Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Wilton's Music Hall, Grace's Alley, London E1 to 12 April 2025. 4****. Review: William Russell.

“Locker dazzles.”

One man in his time plays many parts as someone said and that is indeed what Mark Lockyer  does here to great effect giving a performance of versatility and power, rather performances as he plays all the parts in Hamlet. Some bits work better than others and at the end when all those deaths occur in one fell swoop it gets extremely complicated as bodies pile up – the last line of the play really should be All the rest is silence but, of course, it is not. There are plot points to resolve. Lockyer does, however, get over the problem of Hamlet as a play, one which has sabotaged others - it can at times sound like a massive account of a dictionary of quotations as lines from it used by later writers abound and wrongly done can shatter the mood. But he switches brilliantly from one character  to the other modifying the sound of his voice and manages also to cope with having to fence with himself which really ought to be impossible. Director Fiona Laird, whose idea it was, has staged it splendidly and given Lockyer a task he patently relishes. Well lit, a bare stage with only a vast scarlet curtain covering part of the back wall the play moves seamlessly on – well almost. If ever there was a tour de force this is the perfect example. Handsome, burly, with a shock of white hair Lockyer is in any case one of those actor's who draw the eye but it is his ability to conjure up an Ophelia that amazes, to distinguish between a youthful prince and his uncle, and between all those other characters – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, for a start – who appear. Somehow a shape shifts. You get the play, not a monologue and while it helps to already know the plot the programme provides a handy synopsis. It is a case of “ if  it were done when 'tis done 'twere well it were done quickly” - and it is.

Cast

Mark Lockyer – Everyone

Creatives

Director – Fiona Laird

Designer – Anthony Lamble

Lighting Designer – Tim Mitchell

Fight Director – Dan Fraser