“Tennant also uses his hair to great theatrical effect. From the sleek combed-back style of his first scene, he ruffles it to display despair, rage and madness. It deserves a credit of its very own,” Caroline Briggs on the BBC site approves of Doctor Who star David Tennant’s portrayal of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new production in Stratford. Especially his highly gifted follicles.
(David Tennant as Hamlet in the RSC production)
On a more serious note though, I saw some news coverage on BBC Breakfast this morning as my monkey butler brought me my coffee and croissant and as I watched Tennant coming out the stage door to meet some excited fans (some very young and saying it was their first exposure to the Bard and that they loved it, much to Tennant’s obvious delight) and sign some programmes I couldn’t help but think two things – first of all that the use of such high profile actors as David Tennant and Patrick Stewart had helped the RSC generate more awareness and publicity than they normally would achieve and among a broader, more diverse group, not just regular theatre goers (and by that I don’t mean to suggest either actor is used purely for PR purposes, they are both very fine stage actors), which is good for the RSC but also, by extension, for live theatre in general. And secondly that it was a brilliant way of introducing a new audience to the classics, especially those younger fans, which can only be a good thing. Parents and teachers, if you want to encourage that new interest but are worried about putting off the kids by giving them the full (and to be honest, fairly heavy) text then you should be looking at some of the recent graphic novel adaptations such as the Manga Shakespeare range and the titles from Classical Comics (their Henry V and Macbeth are already out, Frankenstein and Jane Eyre are to follow), which can make it a lot easier for kids to explore the Bard through a visually exciting and accessible comic. Something to think about for the kids on the inevitable wet days during the school holidays.
I couldn’t help but notice on the BBC news though that as well as the younger fans there was a fair proportion of attractive young women all but swooning as David came out to see them. I remember seeing Tom Baker years ago in Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, but I don’t recall quite such a frenzy around the stage door afterwards. It must be the hair, right enough…
Wed, Aug 6, 2008
Film, TV and radio