Andrew Scott's Hamlet (Almeida)

I thought this was a really moving production, with a Hamlet as I always imagined him to be: a clever, sharp, sensitive young man, full of energy, dynamic, but distracted and edgy. His pain and distress keep pushing him to the limit of his endurance. He seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I particularly liked the way his soliloquies are delivered. He talks directly to the audience, sharing the tumultuous feelings shaking his soul. When he discusses suicide, we can feel how almost unbearable his pain is.

Along the play he hugs many of the characters, starting with the ghost of his father, in a scene I found to be particularly touching. It felt to me that in his helplessness, in his sense of being lost, he needed to physically connect with people and with the world around him.

I thought the whole cast was excellent.