...I never knew Will, but...
by Amy Barratt
For me, the test of any Shakespeare performance is: would the Bard himself have liked this? ‘Course I never knew old Will personally but I like to think he would care less about elaborate costumes and rotating platforms than about whether the story comes across. I’m sure he wasn’t above cutting scenes from his own plays when he found the action dragging. A lot of people complain they just can’t get the Shakespearean language. It’s been my experience that if you’re watching actors who get it, then you get it.
Which brings us to Raoul Bhaneja’s rapid-fire, two-hour delivery of Hamlet, in Hamlet (solo), playing at Centaur as part of the Wildside festival. Bhaneja does not linger, as some actors do, over clever turns of phrase, trying to make sure we get them. His is an enormous verbal task but it is possibly an even greater physical one. His performance is a study in playing the intention, and just saying the words.
