As Mr Spock might have said: “It’s Shakespeare, Jim. But not as we know it.”
The absurdly self-promoting toff Brandreth is an easy target for ridicule.
But to dismiss this as just a nepotistic vanity project is too obvious. He may be a prat but he is not an idiot. And there is no doubt that his love of Shakespeare in general and Hamlet in particular is genuine.
It is hardly a must-see but it has its moments. Set in a fashionably rustic country kitchen with an anomalous American fridge freezer and a microwave it is a family affair.
Gyles’ son Benet – a Shakespeare enthusiast/ academic and barrister – plays Hamlet. Unfortunately he acts as if he is in court addressing a jury rather than a theatre, speaking directly to the audience and over-emoting from the start, although his diction (just like his dad’s) is fastidiously perfect.
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Brandeth père plays a handful of older roles from Polonius to Hamlet Senior and croaks up a storm in his stiff-mannered way. But the real draw here is Mrs Benet Brandreth, Kosha Engler, who plays pretty well every female character and a few male ones with some distinction.
I particularly liked her naughtily flirtatious Rosencrantz and a schizophrenic Ophelia as if possessed by her brother Laertes. The duel is reduced to a tricky and dangerous looking drinking/ dagger game. Don’t try this at home, kids.
HAMLET Park Theatre, until September 16. Tickets: 020 7870 6876