Janet Suzman 2006 production

This production of Hamlet, directed by Janet Suzman, played at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the RSC's Complete Works Festival in 2006.

Production photos

Four men on stage, two looking back and two sitting down, all deep in thought

Act 2 Scene 2

Hamlet Dost thou hear me, old friend: can you play the Murder of Gonzago?

Out of hearing of Rosencrantz (Marcel Meyer) and Guildenstern (Nicholas Pauling) Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) asks the First Player (Tauriq Jenkins) to perform a play, with some lines of his own lines added.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Two men on stage talking, one in military uniform and the other wrapped in a blanket

Act 1 Scene 5

Ghost Revenge this foul and most unnatural murder.

The Ghost (John Kani) tells Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius, and he wants Hamlet to avenge his death.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Man and woman on stage holding hands

Act 1 Scene 2

Claudius Our sometime sister, now our queen, the imperial jointress of this war-like state.

Gertrude (Dorothy Ann Gould) listens while Claudius (John Kani) speaks to the court.

 

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
A woman all in white holds out a piece of paper to a man in shorts

Act 3 Scene 1

Ophelia I have rememberances of yours, That I have longed long to re-deliver; I pray you now receive them.

Ophelia (Roshina Ratnam) tries to return letters to Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam).

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Two men look shocked as another man rises out of a trapdoor in the stage, lit with bright white light

Act 1 Scene 4

Hamlet It will not speak; then, will I follow it.

Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) and Horatio (Adam Neill) see the ghost (John Kani) appear.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
A man crouches on stage with his arms held out in front of him

Act 3 Scene 1

Hamlet To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub.

Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) delivers Hamlet's famous soliloquy while performing slow t'ai chi style moves. The slow meditative martial art mirrors Hamlet's reasoned reflection on the advantages and disadvantages of existence.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Two men perform in front of Gertrude and Claudius

Act 3 Scene 2

Hamlet You shall see anon how the murderer gets the love of Gonzago's wife.

The Players (Adrian Collins as the King and Mbulelo Grootboom as Lucianus) perform for Claudius (John Kani) and Gertrude (Dorothy Ann Gould).

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Two men on stage, one with a small telescope-like object

Act 3 Scene 2

Hamlet Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?

After the play, Polonius (Royston Stoffels) asks Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) to go to his mother. Distracting him, Hamlet makes suggestions about shapes in the clouds. Polonius agrees with everything he says.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
A man in jeans and a black jumper lies in the arms of a man in a suit and glasses

Act 5 Scene 2

Hamlet Horatio, I am dead; Thou liv'st; report meand my cause aright to the unsatisfied.

Horatio (Adam Neill) supports Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) who dies after he is wounded by Laertes.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
A woman sits on a round bed, with a man standing nearby, almost covered by darkness

Act 3 Scene 4

Hamlet A bloody deed! Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother.

Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) visits his mother Gertrude (Dorothy Ann Gould) in her bedroom. Polonius (Royston Stoffels) hides behind a panel to eavesdrop (top left of photo). Mistaking him for Claudius, Hamlet stabs him.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
A man with a knife stands behind a man deep in prayer

Act 3 Scene 3

Hamlet And now I'll do't: and so he goes to heaven; And so am I reveng'd.

Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) enters while Claudius (John Kani) is praying, with the intention of killing him. But since Claudius is praying, he decides now isn't the right time to do it.

 

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Gertrude holds Hamlet's head in her arms whilst both sit on a bed

Act 3 Scene 4

Hamlet I must be cruel only to be kind: Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.

Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam) tells Gertrude (Dorothy Ann Gould) he regrets killing Polonius but he believes he had to do it.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Two dishevelled men sit on stage, one drinking alcohol straight out of the bottle

Act 5 Scene 1

Gravedigger It was the very day that young Hamlet was born; he that is mad, and sent into England.

The Gravedigger (Royston Stoffels) talks to but does not recognise Hamlet (Vaneshran Arumugam).

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
Fortinbras stands amid the corpses of the rest of the cast

Act 5 Scene 2

Fortinbras Let four captains bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage; For he was likely, had he been put on, To have prov'd most royally.

Just before he dies, Hamlet announces that he wishes Fortinbras to be king of Denmark. Fortinbras (Mbulelo Grootboom) then arrives, pays tribute to Hamlet and arranges a suitable funeral.

Photo by Suzanne Worthington © RSC – Image Licensing
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Johannesburg-born Suzman directed the play for Baxter Theatre Centre in South Africa before the company toured to England for the Festival. The 'colour-blind casting' was a reflection of the multi-ethnic population of South Africa and with a cast of only 12, most of the parts were doubled (or tripled).

The whole world of Elsinore was a prison for Hamlet, who work the shorts and shirt of a South African prisoner. The minimal set - more from logistical and financial constraints than choice - plus actors fresh to Shakespeare's writing, allowed Suzman to tell the story in an African context with clarity.

The company suffered a real-life great tragedy when one of the actors was murdered outside Cape Town shortly before coming to England. Brett Goldin, playing Guildenstern, was thought to have been the victim of a car-jacking. In response to this terrble loss, the RSC and Baxter set up the Brett Goldin bursary, which provides a yearly grant for one or two young South African actors to travel to England and work with the RSC.

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