This stocky Shakespearean veteran seems of an age with Peter McEnery , whose Claudius is a much younger brother to the old king. John Caird 's basic directorial conceit becomes clear as Act V closes on a corpse littered stage. The evening begins with lights picking out members of the cast standing in niches or doorways around the acting area, which is littered with wooden shipping trunks of various sizes. Scenes are differentiated by moving and manipulating the collection of trunks onstage, by raising and lowering a flotilla of chandeliers overhead, by opening a narrow view to the cyc in the high back wall or creating a cross by opening a slit across its center as well, and by using decidedly nonrealistic side and foot lighting.
Actors intentionally walk-in and out of lighting patterns as scenes progress.
One thing missing in this inspired production is the political unrest which balances the melancholy Dane's inner turmoil. All references to such externals have been excised, including the English ambassadors, and, more boldly, Fortinbras. Perhaps the deacon-like Horatio just wasn't interested in such mundane reality. Even more than usual, attention is focused on the title character's distress. Rapier wit is used to stave off even deeper depression.