Theatre Review: Bernhardt/Hamlet

 The Play: Bernhardt/Hamlet by Therese Rebeck

The Theatre: The Sumner Theatre, Southbank

The Company: Melbourne Theatre Company

Stars: 4

Until: 15 April

It's partly a play about Hamlet. Of course,I'm going to go to this. This, however, is so much more. 

This clip explains it well. 

The blurb on the MTC website reads as follows:

"Paris, 1899: legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt is world-famous … and broke. To turn her fortunes around, she sets her sights on the only role worthy of the greatest actress of all time, horrifying traditionalists and delighting gossips along the way."

Bernhardt/Hamlet is more than this. It's a play, within a play, which also looks at how a play is staged, while giving some great insights into the great lady herself. As a theatre stalwart, I really liked this. It also plays nicely into the today's gender politics which are forever in the media. We see Bernhardt (Kate Mulvany) struggling with not only this gargantuan role, but life around her. She's barely hanging on to her lover Rostam (Charles Wu), the artist making the posters, Alphonse (Tim Walter) is lacking inspiration, and her ragtag group of players and being somewhat unruly. Oh, and her son Maurice (William McKenna) isn't behaving as he should either. 

Publicity shot of Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet

So, what do you get from this? A thought-provoking, funny look at the theatrical process and the life of a famous actress at the top of her game, who's next performance could well be a flow. 

This is Kate Mulvany's show. She's fantastic as the plucky, fickle Sarah, who you end up rooting for at the end.

I loved the interspersions of Shakespeare that permeated the performance. Constant's (Marco Chiappi) delivery of the Ghost's scene gave me goosebumps. Stunning stuff. 

The play is great. I loved the wordplay and pathos which playwright Therese Rebeck has instilled in this is wonderful. And Anne-Marie Sarks direction doesn't miss a beat. 

The costumes and scenery are also something to behold. The everchanging set was something to behold. 

In all, Berhardt/Hamlet provides another solid performance from the MTC. For this theatre loving nerd, this was a winner. And yes, it helps if you're up on your Shakespeare, but it's not essential. That the auditorium was only half full was a bit of a bummer - but it's early in the run. This is worth a look. 

Today's song: