Hamlet - Poster, 1988
Title
Hamlet - Poster, 1988
Date
31 October 1988
Description
Poster for Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
What's the story?
This production of Hamlet starred Elizabeth Bell, Steven Dartnell, Russell Enoch, Patrick Godfrey, Sylvestra le Touzel, John Ramm, Mark Rylance and Peter Wight.
It was directed by Ron Daniels and designed by Antony McDonald.
There is a detailed description of this production on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s website, from which we can see that these Theatre Royal performances were among the first as the production opened in September 1988 on tour, moving to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in April 1989 and transferred to the Barbican Theatre in London the following November.
It toured the UK and USA for two years, including a special performance in August 1989 at Broadmoor Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
Instead of a Danish castle, director Ron Daniels set his modern-dress Hamlet in a mansion high up on a cliff overlooking a tempestuous sea, which echoed the inner turmoil of the play’s key characters. This concept was realised vividly in Antony McDonald's set designs and his echoed in this poster design.
Mark Rylance’s Hamlet was a very troubled prince, disabled by despair, gloomy and violent outbursts and who spent much of the play dressed in pyjamas.
According to the RSC’s website, the RSC rehearsal notes for 29 March 1989 show that a meeting was requested between Mark Rylance and designer Antony McDonald to discuss pyjamas and dressing gowns.
Mark Rylance has since become one of the UK’s most acclaimed actors on stage and film and a highly accomplished Shakespearian actors and director, most notably becoming the first Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe in London between 1995 and 2005.
It was directed by Ron Daniels and designed by Antony McDonald.
There is a detailed description of this production on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s website, from which we can see that these Theatre Royal performances were among the first as the production opened in September 1988 on tour, moving to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in April 1989 and transferred to the Barbican Theatre in London the following November.
It toured the UK and USA for two years, including a special performance in August 1989 at Broadmoor Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
Instead of a Danish castle, director Ron Daniels set his modern-dress Hamlet in a mansion high up on a cliff overlooking a tempestuous sea, which echoed the inner turmoil of the play’s key characters. This concept was realised vividly in Antony McDonald's set designs and his echoed in this poster design.
Mark Rylance’s Hamlet was a very troubled prince, disabled by despair, gloomy and violent outbursts and who spent much of the play dressed in pyjamas.
According to the RSC’s website, the RSC rehearsal notes for 29 March 1989 show that a meeting was requested between Mark Rylance and designer Antony McDonald to discuss pyjamas and dressing gowns.
Mark Rylance has since become one of the UK’s most acclaimed actors on stage and film and a highly accomplished Shakespearian actors and director, most notably becoming the first Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe in London between 1995 and 2005.
Type
Poster
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
