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How not to be Hamlet
Ian McKellen's portrayal of the Prince of Denmark demands a suspension of disbelief too far, says PETER MASON
STRETCHING CREDULITY: Ian McKellen (centre)
[Marc Brenner]
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Hamlet
Theatre Royal Windsor
OF ALL the questionable issues connected with this strange staging of Hamlet, perhaps the oddest is the casting of 82-year-old Ian McKellen as the lead. McKellen has many great talents but inviting him to portray himself as a man 50 years younger than himself is a horrible ask.
No amount of hoodies, track suits or slim-fit jeans can disguise the fact that as Hamlet he’s visibly much older than everyone else on stage, particularly his young lover Ophelia and even his mother Gertrude, played by 64-year-old Jenny Seagrove.
So while that's perhaps an interesting experiment in asking the audience to suspend its disbelief, it’s also an unreasonable one.
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