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Hamlet

Synopsis
Live sound recording of Richard Eyre’s staging of Hamlet at the National Theatre with Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Audio
Recording date
28 Mar 1989

Credits

Director
Richard Eyre
Writer
William Shakespeare
Music
Dominic Muldowney
Production Design
John Gunter
Cast
Daniel Day-LewisHamlet
John CastleClaudius
Judi DenchGertrude
Michael BryantPolonius
Stella GonetOphelia
Alan Brown (2)Voltemand
Alan White (2)Cornelius
Brian SwantonPlayer Queen
Charles SpicerPlayer
Crispin RedmanRosencrantz
David BamberHoratio
David BurkeGhost
David BurkeGravedigger (1)
Dean HollingsworthGravedigger (2)
Douglas McFerranBarnardo
Fintan McKeownFortinbras
Grant OldingPlayer Queen
Guy HenryGuildenstern
Harry WatersCaptain
Ian FlintoffMarcellus
Jeremy NorthamOsric
Judith CokeLady
Mary ChaterPlayer
Morris PerryPriest
Oliver Ford DaviesPlayer King
Peter LindfordLaertes
Peter SearlesPrologue
Richard LawryLucianus
Stephen RashbrookReynaldo
Toby E. ByrneFrancisco

Additional Details

Theatre
Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
Theatre company
National Theatre Company
Production type
Other
Historical period
Medieval
Plays
Hamlet
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General
It is not known whether Brian Swanton or Grant Olding played the role of Player Queen in this recording.

Daniel Day-Lewis collapsed in the middle of a scene where the ghost of Hamlet’s father first appears to his son. He began sobbing uncontrollably and refused to go back on stage; he was replaced by Ian Charleson before a then-unknown Jeremy Northam finished what little was left of the production’s run. One rumour following the incident was that Day-Lewis had seen the ghost of his own father, although the incident was officially attributed to exhaustion. He confirmed on the top chat show PARKINSON that this rumour was true. He has not appeared on stage since. [Summarised from Wikipedia, 11/2008).
History
Opening night 16 March 1989
Stills
"John Gunter’s design is dominated by a grey, stone, Comendatore-like statue of the old king, and his careful recreations of lance-infested battle scenes are inset in a grim corridor that extends the Denys Lasdun concrete nightmare into the very heart of Elsinore." Michael Coveney, Financial Times, 18 March 1989).
Reviews
Dessen, Alan C. Shakespeare Quarterly 41 (1990), pp. 352-65 (in review-article).

Archive

Name

British Library Sound Archive

Email
listening@bl.uk
Web
http://www.bl.uk/nsa External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7412 7676
Fax
020 7412 7441
Address
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

Record Stats

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