★★★★
In true Stafford Shakespeare tradition, the Gatehouse Theatre unveils a bold new adaptation of the Bard’s most iconic tragedy, Hamlet, marking a significant new chapter for the much-loved annual summer celebration of Shakespeare.
After over three decades (1991–2023) of performances under the stars at Stafford Castle, the event has now found a new home in the heart of the town: the Stafford Gatehouse Theatre. Following a year’s hiatus, this return feels both like a continuation and a striking reinvention.
And what a debut this new venue has delivered. Far from simply restaging a classic, this production reintroduces Hamlet with a visceral energy and dramatic clarity that reimagines Shakespeare’s brooding prince for contemporary audiences. Under the direction of the award-winning Richard Cheshire, this Hamlet sheds excess in favour of intensity, emotional focus, and visual boldness.
From the opening moments, the production establishes its tone through its stark, modernist aesthetic. The set is a character in itself: an austere, monolithic structure painted in oppressive tones of black and grey, visually mirroring the moral and psychological desolation of Elsinore. The absence of colour is deliberate—it plunges the audience into a world of perpetual mourning, where light itself feels rationed. Each subtle flicker of lighting (a narrow spotlight here, a fleeting backlight there) cuts sharply through the gloom, magnifying the emotional beats of each scene. The effect is haunting.
Cheshire’s adaptation is unapologetically streamlined. At a brisk two and a half hours, several of Shakespeare’s more discursive scenes and secondary speeches have been excised. While purists may mourn the absence of certain familiar passages, the cuts lend the production a relentless, forward-driving energy. This Hamlet isn’t meditative, it’s urgent.
The performances are uniformly strong, but two actors stand apart. Benedict Shaw makes for an excellent Hamlet. His performance as Denmark’s troubled prince is a tightly coiled spring—nervy, introspective, and visibly unravelling. His delivery of the soliloquies avoids grandstanding in favour of raw, personal torment. Yet it is Sean O’Callaghan, as Claudius, who commands the stage with devastating nuance. With nearly four decades of stage and screen experience, O’Callaghan brings gravitas to the role, infusing the murderous king with complex humanity. His Claudius is not just a villain but a man torn between guilt and ambition, whose imposing presence is fractured by flickers of remorse and private anguish. His performance lingers long after the final blackout.
The supporting cast is equally compelling. Llinos Daniel lends Gertrude a quiet, pained dignity, while Amy Tara’s Ophelia undergoes a chillingly understated descent into madness. The ensemble—Horatio, Polonius, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern—is crisply directed and uniformly committed, anchoring the world around Hamlet with believable weight.
This isn’t a production that indulges in lavish period detail or traditionalist staging. Instead, Cheshire opts for emotional precision and modern immediacy. The result is an introspective and often emotionally bruising Hamlet, one that speaks directly to contemporary anxieties about grief, power, and the fragility of identity.
Stafford Gatehouse’s Hamlet marks a bold new era for the Stafford Shakespeare tradition. Stark, fast-paced, and visually striking, this is a lean and emotionally potent take on one of literature’s most enduring tragedies. While some will miss the richness of a more textually complete version, the production’s intensity and emotional clarity more than compensate. Sean O’Callaghan’s Claudius, in particular, is worth the ticket alone. If this is the future of Stafford Shakespeare, it’s a future worth watching.
Hamlet will be performed at the Stafford Gatehouse until 5 July.
Words by Joseph Jenkinson
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