Review: Hamlet at Norwich Cathedral's Shakespeare Festival

Norwich Cathedral's cloister was transformed into an open-air theatre on Thursday and Friday for performances of Hamlet. 

A modern-day incarnation of a travelling troupe of players, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed the play in the way it would have been done in Shakespeare's day.

It featured an all-male cast, Elizabethan costumes and traditional music and dance.

Hamlet in Norwich Cathedral's Cloister (Image: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral)

In the epic masterpiece set in the state of Denmark, Prince Hamlet famously asks: "To be, or not to be, that is the question."

Exacting revenge against his uncle for murdering his father in order to seize the throne and marry his mother, Hamlet slips into grief-stricken madness.

Hal Geller as Hamlet, in Norwich Cathedral's Cloister (Image: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral)

A cast of seven vividly brings to life one of the greatest theatrical portrayals of melancholy crafted by Shakespeare.

An arrangement of cold-grey pillars sets the stage of a Danish royal castle, seamlessly blending into the stone architecture of Norwich Cathedral.

Thomas Delacourt as the ghost of Hamlet's father (top), Hal Geller as Hamlet (bottom), Stefan Brennan-Healy as Queen Gertrude (right) in Hamlet at Norwich Cathedral's Cloister (Image: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral)

A slow unravelling, with scenes rolling into the next, creates a winding tension that coils like a serpent's grasp around Hamlet's sanity.

Theatrical flair is demonstrated by performers when humour and jest bring lightness to a world drenched in heaviness and sorrow.

Edward Bartram as Polonius (left), Thomas Delacourt as King Claudius (middle), Stefan Brennan-Healy as Queen Gertrude (right) in Hamlet by The Lord Chamberlain's Men (Image: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral)

A captivating performance was given by Edward Bartram who starred as Polonius and the gravedigger.

Hal Geller as Hamlet (left), Tom Canavan as Rosenrantz (right) in Hamlet at Norwich Cathedral's Cloister (Image: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral)

A wild thirst for revenge buckles Hamlet, just as a cunning greed for power overrules the King, forcing both to confess themselves into darkness before the eyes of the audience.

Mark Milligan as Ophelia (left), Stefan Brennan-Healy as Queen Gertrude (middle), Tom Canavan as Laertes (right), in Hamlet at Norwich Cathedral's Cloister (Image: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral)

With choreographed sword fights, drumming suspense and vengeful monologues, poison spreads across the stage in a compelling performance. 

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men will return to Norwich Cathedral with a performance of Twelfth Night in 2025.