HAMLET

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Until October 25

WHEN it was first revealed Maxine Peake would be playing the title role of Hamlet I am sure many, including myself, wondered how it would pan out.

It is not the first time a woman has tackled the iconic role in William Shakespeare’s ultimate play of murder and madness, from Sarah Siddons in 1777 to Frances de la Tour in 1979.

With a raft of successful roles under her belt, from rough around the edges Veronica in offbeat drama Shameless to last year’s haunting and provocative performance of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy, the run sold out and was extended before Maxine had even uttered her first ‘to be, or not to be’, people clearly intrigued by the production.

Maxine puts in an impassioned and strong performance as Hamlet, consumed with grief at the death of his father — murdered by his uncle, Claudius.

With her striking looks, body language, facial expressions, androgynous costumes and delivering the words with apparent effortlessness, it is a convincing performance from beginning to end.

With his father the King dead and his uncle now married to his mother, Hamlet is angry and mad, struggling to exact revenge.

It could have been easy to overplay the role but Maxine gives a balanced and believable performance in the stripped back, fresh and fast-paced version of Shakespeare's most iconic work.

With all eyes on Maxine, it could be easy to forget the rest of the cast but there are strong supporting performances.

Gillian Bevan provides wonderful moments of comedy, playing Polonia with a flippant attitude and dressed like a candidate on The Apprentice.

The contemporary design, such as the lighting to portray the arrival of the ghost of Hamlet’s father, played by John Shrapnel who also plays Claudius, was particularly striking.

The text used was created for a 2009 production starring Jude Law, which played theatres in London and New York.

Some Shakespeare purists may take exception to certain aspects and omissions but I was gripped by the whole production which, with a first act of two hours and coming in at three-and-a-half hours including the interval, is no mean feat.

Some sections which have the potential to be dull in more traditional productions, such as when the travelling actors arrive to stage plays, were given a modern and enjoyable twist.

Other roles are turned on their head and taken on by women, including the tattooed, punkish, cocaine-sniffing Rosencrantz, played by Jodie McNee, and Michelle Butterly as a Scouse grave digger.

If Maxine’s intention was to pave the way for more actresses to play male roles then this gripping performance certainly achieves that, I just wonder if they would be able to sword fight as well as her.

Hamlet, directed by Sarah Frankcom, is on at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, until October 25 with a limited number of banquette tickets made available for each performance, phone 0161 833 9833.