To Be Or Not To Be?

Source: National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015) (imdb.com)

This is only going to be short; I promise. The other day, I went along to my local cinema to catch Benedict Cumberbatch in Shakepeare's 1599-1602 tragedy Hamlet in the recent production at the Barbican, which was filmed by the NT Live scheme.

This happened to be the first Hamlet I've seen, in any of adaptation, film, tv or on stage, even though it is possibly Shakespeare's most performed piece (as well as his longest); I didn't even study it at school; the closest I can think of is the Lion King, which is of course based on Shakespeare's original work. But that masterpiece is potentially for another time.

Similar to when I saw Coriolanus recently, there is a short film which included an interview with Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as him visiting a school drama class to watch their interpretation of the famous "To Be Or Not To Be" speech.

On to the piece itself, Hamlet is a story about one's "apparent" descent into madness, as Hamlet plots revenge against his uncle Claudius, who had killed his father by pouring poison into his ear.
Cumberbatch was completely captivating as the Danish prince and he really made you pity for him as he goes from grief-stricken to completely revenge-driven. As well as Cumberbatch as the titular character, the other star power came from Ciaran Hinds as King Claudius. I originally couldn't take him seriously at first because, as with a lot of GoT actors, I just saw him as Mance Rader... But as soon as that was shoved out of the way, I saw a character who is very charismatic and calculated, and I thought Hinds also did a good job of keeping in his internal madness.
Speaking of madness, it is a play which does reference a lot about psychological wounds, and it is shown in 3 main different ways I can think of: Hamlet's "assumed" madness, Claudius' internal madness and Ophelia's external madness, where it becomes evident after her father is accidentally stabbed; and I have to mention Sian Brooke, who played Ophelia, was wonderful during those scenes in the second half.

Now, I am not going to go any further into the play as I would like you to experience the piece first hand yourself, whichever adaptation you choose. I am definitely delighted that I picked this Hamlet as my first - the only thing I suggest is be prepared for a long first half - it could have finished at many numerous places.....