Hamlet
15th July 2000
Lyttleton Theatre, NT
Photographs generously provided by Catherine Ashmore and the National Theatre Archive.
This was a National Theatre production that opened at the Lyttleton Theatre on the 15th July 2000 and subsequently played at Elsinore in Denmark, Stadsteatern in Stockholm and the National Theatre in Belgrade.
It also toured in the UK and Ireland, visiting Brighton, Glasgow, Dublin, Plymouth and Bath before playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and the Wilbur Theatre in Boston.
On the American leg of the tour, the roles played by the late Denis Quilley were played by the late Peter Blythe.
Simon Russell Beale's performance as Hamlet was recently described by the New York Times as 'as close to a definitive Hamlet as I'm ever likely to see'.
Hamlet
| Written by | William Shakespeare |
Creative team
| Director | John Caird |
| Designer | Tim Hatley |
| Lighting Designer | Paul Pyant |
| Music | John Cameron |
| Fight Director | Terry King |
| Sound Designer | Christopher Shutt |
| Company Voice Work | Patsy Rodenburg |
Cast
| Horatio | Simon Day |
| Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | Simon Russell Beale |
| Hamlet, his father | Sylvester Morand |
| Claudius, his uncle | Peter McEnery |
| Gertrude, his mother | Sara Kestelman |
| Polonius, Lord Chamberlain | Denis Quilley |
| Laertes, his son | Guy Lankester |
| Ophelia, his sister | Cathryn Bradshaw |
| Reynaldo, his servant | Edward Gower |
| Rosencrantz | Christopher Staines |
| Guildenstern | Paul Bazely |
| Player King | Sylvester Morand |
| Player Queen | Janet Spencer-Turner |
| Players | Michael Wildman / Chloe Angharad |
| Francisco, a soldier | Edward Gower |
| Barnardo, an officer | Ken Oxtoby |
| Marcellus, an officer | Martin Chamberlain |
| Osric, a courtier | Michael Wildman |
| Gentlewomen | Chloe Angharad / Janet Spencer-Turner |
| The Grave-digger | Denis Quilley |
| The Priest | Ken Oxtoby |
| On the American leg of the tour, the roles played by the late Denis Quilley were played by the late Peter Blythe. | |
Band
| MD / Keyboard / Recorder | Jonathan Cooper |
| Viola / Recorder | Rebecca Brown |
| Oboe / Shawm / Recorder | Belinda Sykes / Ann Allen |
Production Credits
| Staff Director | Stephen Wrentmore |
| Production Manager | Mark Dakin |
| Stage Manger | Trish Montemuro |
| Deputy Stage Manager | Fiona Bardsley |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Valerie Fox / Andrew Speed |
| Assistant to the Designer | Stuart D Nunn |
| Assistant to the Lighting Designer | Pete Bull |
| Assistant Voice Coach | Jeannette Nelson |
| Deputy Production Manager (Hamlet) | Annie Eves-Boland |
| Assistant Production Manager | Paul Atkinson |
| Production Photographer | Catherine Ashmore |
| Costume Supervisor | Carrie Bayliss (assisted by Deborah Norman) |
| Keyboard Programming | Stuart Andrews |
| Boy Soprano | Jake Arditti |
| Programme designed by | Stephen Cummiskey |