Eden Court – One Touch Theatre
Inverness
Wed 12th November

In Iain Heggie’s contemporary language version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we see the main protaganist played by a young male actor Sean Purden Brown. In an unusual twist,  the platy is set with a students bedroom, complete with bunk bed and desk and music that wouldn’t be out of place in a trendy nightclub. Prince Hamlet introduces us to the people in his life by showing us pictures on his I pad, which are projected onto a large screen. We meet his friend, Horatio who’s a tad boring, the girl he’s into called Ophelia and his Mum and Dad. He recounts the sad story of how his Dad died and then tells us of his disgust at the fact his Mum has now married his Uncle C.

Sean Purden-Brown

The rationale behind this one man play is Iain Heggies “desire for audiences to be able to access the story easily” and by using the language of our time he wanted to “get the story into the audiences jugular” and for me it definitely succeeded on both counts. Although I initially struggled with the paradoxical sensations of Heggie’s transcreation, by the end I was hooked, for Sean Purden Brown gave a substantial and confident performance that was entirely believable and gripped my attention.

Iain Heggie

The audience discussion and questions with both Iain and Sean  after the play wasenjoyable and insightful, an added bonus to top off this touching and humorous adaptation of Shakespeare’s most famous, poetic & brilliant play. FOUR STARS

Reviewer: Zoe Gwynne