While the idea of a female Hamlet is nothing new, German film actress Asta Nielsen can be seen soliloquizing the role in a ground breaking 1921 silent film version, this production is setup to fail from the very beginning due to the choices made by the lead actress.
There are so many elements within this production that deserve praise; the minimal set design, gender swapping some of the supporting roles (Polonius becomes Polonia, etc.)and the overall storytelling is masterful here. It's too bad that all of it means nothing when your main actress screams at the audience the whole time.
As a character who is dark, brooding and melancholy by nature; any actor tasked with fleshing out a performance must find the balance between his need for revenge and a potentially having a psychological breakdown after finding out your Uncle killed your Father and married your Mother! Therefore creating a relationship and connecting with your audience is crucial as to whether or not we care about Hamlet's situation! In the case of Maxine Peake, the actress playing Hamlet, I quickly found myself wanting her to SHUT THE HELL UP. This is because it seems she was pushing too hard and wasn't able to find any subtle nuances in her vocal performance. I'm not sure if she was trying to fill the space or if the actor chose to portray Hamlet as someone who is not grounded in reality, but ultimately her choices disconnected me from her character and in fact turned me against Hamlet because her dialogue was not believable and felt REALLY forced.
If you cannot modulate your vocal performance in front of a live audience it is very easy to turn them against you. This is what happened here and its a shame because so many other aspects of this production succeed.
You're only as strong as your weakest link - in this case I desperately wanted Hamlet to connect and just talk to me.....not scream and shout for 3 hours!
