Kirkham Grammar School’s Performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

14 October 2015
Director: Jane Barrie
Musical Director: Graeme Barrie
Choreographer: Zac Crowe & Sophie Warden

Whilst walking into Kirkham Grammar School, the first thing that I noticed was the friendly
atmosphere at the front desk. I must admit that myself and my partner arrived early, over half an
hour before the show, however the staff on the front door were very friendly and conversational, a
nice change from some of the other theatres around the Fylde.

Walking into the hall, I was impressed with the mural at the back of the stage depicting the symbols
most commonly associated with Hamlet: the skull; the dagger; and the snake. It truly was an
impressive sight accompanied with a bold love-heart painted in a modern style. Absolutely beautiful!
To whomever designed and executed the mural, a huge congratulations is deserved!

After finding my seat, I did notice that the seats were worryingly uncomfortable. There was very
little cushioning on the hard plastic chairs which unfolded at a roughly a 90-degree angle. This was a
major worry for a three-hour show. To save you all from the suspense, my worries were justified. I
was also worried that the stage felt a long way away; however, the floor space in front of the stage
was used perfectly as the site of the main action, with the stage being set as the bedroom. An
interesting set up, although I would have enjoyed the evening more if the seats had been arranged
in a semi-circle formation.

The programme was initially appealing upon casual inspection with the mural, from the back of the
stage, having been used in on the front cover of the yellow card. However, there were issues. The
edges of the title were blurred and, whilst the word was definitely still legible, the programme was
somewhat cheapened by this relatively amateur mistake. More upsettingly, the inside page
contained the headshots of the main cast members in black-and-white format. This looked awful
with almost no distinction being made for the different colours or the shadowing effects. This
actually made it hard to see the pictures and hard to recognise some of the cast, despite them being
on the stage in front of me. Again, an amateur mistake.

Interestingly, as the show opened, a band entered a side stage in the corner of the room. The band
consisted of a selection of guitars, a keyboard player, a drummer and then one of two singers. They
opened the show with an upbeat rock number which was a very welcome change to the normal
rhetoric associated with Shakespeare. I must admit to having been expecting a small string group to
accompany parts of the show, rather than the rousing group that we saw. Throughout the show the
band provided interludes and played similar music. Whilst the first half was fitting and enjoyable,
then second half did lack originality with a rendition of Hallelujah and Danny Boy being the finale.
Whilst I admit to actively disliking Danny Boy as a song, I did feel that the musical director had tried
to find any cliché possible or had just gone through the soundtrack for Brassed Off for ideas. I felt
this was roughly as inspired as the Twilight novels.

The female singer should be commended as her performances were emotive, perfectly in-tune, and
well-balanced. Very impressive. However, the male singer managed to imitate a Southern Tennessee
accent throughout his time on the stage and this somewhat irritated throughout his whole
performance and somewhat jaded my experience of the band. I felt that the female singer could
easily have taken over his songs and would have been more fitting vocally, particularly given the
lacking lower register of the male singer. In summary, the band was a nice addition to the show;
however, a different front-man should have been chosen.
The director had decided to accompany the show with a PowerPoint Presentation that highlighted
the main bullet points of each scene. This was a smart decision. Any audience members that are not
overly familiar with Shakespeare would have found this a vital feature for understanding the show.
Whilst this was a good idea, the execution was lacking somewhat. The PowerPoint was not timed
well and, in parts, the grammar needed checking.

Before I talk about the individual cast members, I want to talk about the dance routines the
choreographers created. They were sublime and incredibly well-executed. Zac Crowe and Sophie
Warden deserve the highest of praise and clearly have bright futures ahead of them. They created
ballet routines in order to express either the forthcoming or the preceding and paired them with the
music of the band. I have never been more impressed with a choreographed routine than the ones
that were put together by a pair of 14-16 year olds. I believe that they choreographed the dance for
the troop of dancers during the show. Whilst this was not performed proficiently or in a
synchronised manner, the routine was ambitious and stylish. Despite the overacting of the front row
of ladies, the acting troop were very good throughout their scenes

I shall start by talking about Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Velaqua. Whilst these are relatively
minor parts Rosencrantz and Velaqua were confidently performed. The trio, unfortunately, was let
down by the actor playing Guildenstern. I am not certain that this was a directing choice, but I am
certain that the actor forgot lines and was out of time with the rest of the cast at several points. He
also had a resting facial expression of confusion. For me this was confusing and almost looked as
though he did not know what was happening around him. Velaqua and Rosencrantz projected very
well, delivered the lines confidently, and moved around the stage providing an interesting scene to
watch.

The part of the Ghost of Hamlet was played by Lawrence Gebbie. Whilst Lawrence was clearly a
younger student, he performed the part well lending gravitas to the role. Unfortunately, the make-
up was poorly done and so it did appear that the late King was 12 whilst his son looked 17-18.
Gertrude was portrayed by Sophie Coplestone. She performed the part satisfactorily but with no real
flare. Sophie was one of the more boring parts to watch onstage. Unfortunately, this is mostly
because the scripted part is relatively boring, although Sophie appeared to be stiff at points. She
needed to work on her projection and rushed her lines from time to time.

Claudius and Polonius were both performed well without any complaints to be made for either of
them. Anthony Hudson played Claudius and a true highlight for me was the scene with Claudius in
the church showing remorse. This was performed excellently! I had Goosebumps at one point.
Polonius was played by Sam Draper who was admirable but, in a similar fashion to Lawrence Gebbie,
was let down by the make-up department. Sam looked far too young for the part of the old man and
it was noticeable among the other leading actors. A special mention should be made to the
cowardice that Sam showed in this role. Whilst the other emotions were not a proficient, the
cowardice was performed very well.

A mention is being made now to the two gravediggers who were utterly ridiculous. They were a
disgrace to the role and did not belong on the stage. Even worse, than their terrible acting and lax
attitudes was the fact that the skull was not brought on stage. I cannot imagine a production of
Hamlet without the skull; however, I have now sat through one. This really is a shame and was a
major let down as the two gravediggers juggled thin air. Unbelievable.

Horatio was played by Ellie Moss. Whilst she was not perfect, Ellie performed the part very well and
projected her lines so that they could be easily heard throughout the hall. She acted proficiently and
her facial expressions and body language matched the scene perfectly. Either she has done
incredibly well or the director was incredibly intuitive and a phenomenal teacher. Laertes,
unfortunately suffers the same scripting flaws as Gertrude and is a boring character. However,
Laertes was not performed well in my opinion. Bits were good, but more came across as pathetic
and bland. The death scene did not cause any feelings of emotion in myself but rather made me wish
that the poison had been faster-acting.

The real stars of the show were Ophelia, played by Elyssia Cockshott, and Hamlet, played by Mason
Forest. Both were played to the same quality as you would expect in a professional outfit. The
descents into madness; the rise and fall; the heartbreak; Ophelia’s fear turned into depression;
Hamlet’s anger turned into supposed insanity; all of these were performed to the highest of abilities.
It is surprising that these two were only school age and not full-time actors. The relationship
between the two was obvious at the start with Ophelia looking over to Hamlet whilst other cast
members were speaking. As the plot thickened we saw the effect the appearance of the ghost had
on Hamlet and how it changed his priorities. We saw him spiral out of control and how his
interactions with the other cast members changed. The most amazing moment of the entire show
was the scene with Ophelia and Hamlet as their relationship breaks down in violent fashion. Here we
saw true fear from Elyssia as the dominating personality of Masons Hamlet shone through. The pair
were perfect as they fed off each other’s presence and the soliloquys delivered were faultless. I was
thrilled to see the bedroom scene and the anger of Hamlet turn into a controlling rage over his
mother, Gertrude. Here I found possibly the most intelligent direction I have ever seen in my 13
years of working in Musical Theatre. Despite being a youth production, the director allowed Mason
to destroy props, namely a picture in a frame. Seeing the shards of glass bounce off the bed as
Mason slammed the picture frame down, inches away from his co-actor, was a real highlight. I would
also like to mention the scenes after the death of Polonius where Elyssia showed the madness that
grief can push us to. Here I got a true glimpse of the frailty of the human psyche. Truly phenomenal
actors and a gift to the show.

Overall, the show was very impressive and well executed with only a few minor casting and logistical
issues holding it back. I was amazed that school children between 11-18 were be to show the range
of emotions and the depth of character needed for this Shakespearean tragedy and I look forward to
seeing what Kirkham Grammar School has to offer next.