{"id":190,"date":"2016-03-08T18:48:15","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T18:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/?p=190"},"modified":"2022-05-29T08:09:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T08:09:54","slug":"a-hungarian-hamlet-of-what-ifs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/a-hungarian-hamlet-of-what-ifs\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hungarian Hamlet of What ifs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judit Cs\u00e1ki<\/strong>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\"1240488312\"
\nShakespeare\u2019s Hamlet at the Hungarian National Theatre, directed by Robert Alf\u00f6ldi. Premiere March 19, 2012.<\/p>\n

What if we give Hamlet <\/em>\u2013 this undoubtedly hyper-canonized drama \u2013 an unusual look? What if we try to look at it as if it were the very first glance? What if we put aside all the interpretations about \u201ethe drama of inaction\u201d (Howard Granville-Barker) and \u201eHamlet as a man of radical contradictions\u201d (Amanda Mabillard)?
\nThis is exactly what R\u00f3bert Alf\u00f6ldi did in the National Theatre of Budapest, Hungary. There is this guy, apparently our contemporary, brought up in a decent, aristocratic and well-to-do family, a guy who had gone to study abroad (quite usual a phenomenon in today\u2019s Hungary), then called back home (via telegram or sms) to his father\u2019s sudden death and funeral. Here he finds his mother marrying his father\u2019s brother \u2013 and understands nothing except his world being shattered, for good.<\/p>\n

The set is simple, yet multifunctional: the audience sits on the stage and the actors cover the entire auditorium. The fancy d\u00e9cor of the hall has been hidden with black foil, and on the floor there are empty bottles, cans and creased newspapers. As the auditorium has at least three different levels, it is easy to eavesdrop and to ambush unnoticed \u2013 a great dramaturgical help to the director to ravel out the backgrounds and motives of the different plot and processes.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, Ophelia (Csilla Radnay), Polonius (Roland R\u00e1ba), Gertrude (Andrea S\u00f6ptei) and Claudius (Zal\u00e1n Makranczi).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hamlet
Hamlet (Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel) with the Ghost of Hamlet’s father (Zsolt L\u00e1szl\u00f3).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What if the ghost of Hamlet\u2019s father designates a clear and definite perspective to Hamlet? What if this boy knows exactly what his main job is from now on: to revenge his father\u2019s death and to stop the building of this new, authoritarian kingdom? Hamlet is determined and disciplined, and smart enough to keep his secret plot to himself.<\/p>\n

And this is why he has to detach himself from Ophelia, this smart girl worth his love and admiration, but also an obedient daughter of her father Polonius. And Polonius is \u2013 at least according to Alf\u00f6ldi but not far from Shakespeare either \u2013 the iconic figure of loyalty to whatever type of power is in charge. His unconditional \u2013 and which is more: fervent and exhibitionist \u2013 compliance to the new king and at the same time his authoritative fatherhood towards his daughter can jeopardize Hamlet\u2019s plot; and Hamlet has no time and energy to feel sorry for ruining his love-affair, as he has his mission to accomplish.<\/p>\n

What if this break-up is not enough for Ophelia to lose her mind? What if she is an eye-and-ear witness of the dialogue between Claudius and Polonius about Hamlet\u2019s \u201estrange madness\u201d and its danger? She is standing in the dark on the balcony right next to the royal box during this conversation and she hears her father\u2019s plan to figure out the reason \u2013 and she doesn\u2019t like it at all. Her so far secure and transparent world has become blurred and cloudy, and she cannot communicate her fears and insecurity \u2013 there is no one around him, no Hamlet, no Laertes\u2026 Laertes had enough of this gloomy Denmark and left for Paris to enjoy life.<\/p>\n

What if Hamlet\u2019s bewilderment and perplexity is just a fake to hide his clear thoughts? The translation of the text \u2013 the work of a poet and a linguist of English \u00c1d\u00e1m N\u00e1dasdy \u2013 is clear, purposeful and meaning-oriented based upon clearing all ambiguous details. So it is quite evident that all of Hamlet\u2019s \u201cstrange\u201d answers and lines as well as his main monologue about \u201cto be or not to be\u201d are to hide his thoughts on the one hand and to eagerly look for the best way to accomplish his job on the other.<\/p>\n

\"Tam\u00e1s
Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel as Hamlet in the production of the Hungarian National Theatre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tam\u00e1s
Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel as Hamlet in the production of the Hungarian National Theatre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"From
From left Ophelia (Csilla Radnay), Polonius (Roland R\u00e1ba), Hamlet (Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel), Claudius (Zal\u00e1n Makranczi), Rosencrantz (R\u00f3bert Marton), Guildenstern (G\u00e1bor Hev\u00e9r), Marcellus (Tibor Feh\u00e9r), Bernardo (D\u00e9nes Farkas) and Francisco (\u00c1lmos El\u0151d).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Claudius is a modern and determined tyrant who fears no obstacle or enemy in his path to be a king and to securing his power. If it takes to marry the widow he does it \u2013 no love, no erotic lush urges him but power. He gives his speech through a microphone to his people about the death of old Hamlet and about his marriage to the queen, wearing an elegant suit, standing in a crowd of obedient servants and arousing no doubts concerning his obtrusive, dictatorial character. He provokes applause for himself, and hissing at the mention of the name of Fortinbras the enemy; he is manipulating his people in his favor. And this is only the beginning.<\/p>\n

What if Gertrud is still in shock because of the sudden death of her husband and evidently knows nothing about the murder? It takes quite some time for her to see through her new husband and the changes in her life.<\/p>\n

As the play takes place in theatrical surroundings emphasizing the theatre as such, there is great emphasis on the scene of the visiting actors. The group \u2013 one man (played by the same actor as Hamlet\u2019s father) and one woman pulling a small cart with all their properties and requisites \u2013 is poor and shabby but, as we find out later, extremely talented and devoted (played by Zsolt L\u00e1szl\u00f3 and Mari Nagy). Their melancholy and resignation disappear in a second when it is time to perform \u2013 and they employ Hamlet as their third actor during the \u201cmouse-trap-scene\u201d to put the poison into the king\u2019s ear. The royal couple and their cortege sits in front of us in the first row while watching the scene, so Claudius\u2019s outburst and Gertrud\u2019s shock are very close and univocal evidences.<\/p>\n

\"Hamlet
Hamlet (Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel) with Gertrude (Andrea S\u00f6ptei).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not that Hamlet needs them \u2013 he knows what he has to know. He doesn\u2019t even need Horatio to help him \u2013 to witness the story is just enough. According to Alf\u00f6ldi Horatio\u2019s role is less important than its customary portrayals \u2013 a sheer beholder nothing more. No close friend needed for this Hamlet \u2013 he has to go his way to the end alone.<\/p>\n

What if his talking to his mother is an \u201cordinary\u201d mother-and-son event? No shouting, no fighting; sayings and reactions. Gertrud believes the words of her son \u2013 she herself had seen what she had seen so far. Hamlet\u2019s first murder \u2013 the killing of Polonius hidden behind the curtain of the royal box \u2013 happens as a \u201cnot-worth-mentioning\u201d act, not causing Hamlet even to pause in mid-sentence while talking to his mother. This boy doesn\u2019t care about the price of his mission any more, his own death included.<\/p>\n

\"Second
Second Gravedigger (Istv\u00e1n Znamen\u00e1k) and First Gravedigger (Frigyes Holl\u00f3si).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"First
First Gravedigger (Frigyes Holl\u00f3si), Second Gravedigger (Istv\u00e1n Znamen\u00e1k), Hamlet (Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel)
and Horatio (Bence M\u00e1ty\u00e1ssy).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gertrud hasn\u2019t seen the main reason of Ophelia\u2019s freaking out; she hasn\u2019t seen what happened on the balcony where Claudius raped the astonished Ophelia, while she was talking to his son. Enough reason to lose one\u2019s mind, enough to die. And enough reason for Gertrud to take to drink.<\/p>\n

Laertes \u2013 receiving the news about his father\u2019s and sister\u2019s deaths \u2013 flies back in fury. What if he became a fully-armed anarchist waving a machine-gun, ready to shoot just anybody. This contemporary hero can easily be talked into the deceit by Claudius.<\/p>\n

The \u201cgravedigger\u201d scene is a sad inventory of our once-beloved symbols: the red star, the hole-in-the-middle flag (the symbol of the 1956 revolution) all go to a huge garbage-sack, which is sad yet comical, which makes it even sadder: all they are worth is being buried for good.<\/p>\n

While all the costumes are modern and elegant, for the fencing-scene there is a traditionally-dressed Hamlet in a historical costume. Again, the royal couple sits in the first row \u2013 but Claudius\u2019s admonishment (\u201cGertrud, don\u2019t drink\u201d) is not about solicitude but the woman\u2019s evident alcoholism.<\/p>\n

\"Hamlet
Hamlet (Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel) in the Hungarian National Theatre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fortinbras
Fortinbras (Attila L\u00e1szl\u00f3) in the middle with the microphone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The end brings Fortinbras in: Martens-brogue, black coat, black trousers \u2013 the outfit of neo-Nazis. Behind him a \u201cresurrected\u201d Polonius comes \u2013 the eternal servant.<\/p>\n

Outstanding acting comes with the extraordinarily fresh and topical interpretation. Hamlet is Tam\u00e1s Szab\u00f3 Kimmel, a young actor who shocks the audience by his instinctive yet very proportionate acting in this huge role. Claudius is Zal\u00e1n Makranczy, Polonius is Roland R\u00e1ba who makes this role an emblem of our age, Ophelia is Csilla Radnay who makes her character a mature, smart and sensitive woman, and Gertrud is Andrea S\u00f6ptei who uses all the non-verbal presence to show the decline of a queen and the delusion of a woman.<\/p>\n

An extraordinary performance in a theatre, which is booming artistically amidst political attacks and financial difficulties.<\/p>\n

\n

\"1240488312\"<\/p>\n

<\/a>[1] Judit Csaki<\/strong> is a free lance theatre critic for Hungarian weekly Magyar Narancs; she is the editor-in-chief of the critical website called Revizor; associate professor and chair of the Dept. of Theatre in Kaposv\u00e1r university.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2012 Judit Csaki
\nCritical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This work is licensed under the
\nCreative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judit Cs\u00e1ki[1] Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet at the Hungarian National Theatre, directed by Robert Alf\u00f6ldi. Premiere March 19, 2012. What if we give Hamlet \u2013 this undoubtedly hyper-canonized drama \u2013 an unusual look? What if we try to look at it as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performance-reviews","","tg-column-two"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/03\/1240488312.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7kGC0-34","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/6\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}