The National Theatre’s ‘5 Hamlets’ exhibition documents five of its productions of ‘Hamlet’, spanning five decades. The exhibition shows the play’s adaptability and combines audio material with set models, costumes, and props to compare the five productions.  Comments on the general approaches taken by the different directors, such as Richard Eyre (1989) and John Caird (2000), help set the material in context. 

A particularly powerful feature is the use of audio recordings, bringing visitors into direct contact with the past productions. By taking headphones off the red Yorick skulls, visitors can listen to excerpts from three scenes in each play. Recordings from the court’s entrance in Act 1, Scene 2 demonstrate how different composers set the tone for each production, whilst Ophelia’s song in Act 4, Scene 3 captures the varied approaches taken to convey the character’s madness. Matthew Scott, Head of Music at the National, explains these different approaches are necessary because the Elizabethan perception of madness in music does not translate to modern audiences. The listener then hears the unpredictability of Susan Fleetwood’s 1976 Ophelia, Stella Gonet’s roughness, Cathryn Bradshaw’s obsessiveness, and finally Ruth Negga’s child-like delivery in 2010.  

Jeannette Nelson, Head of Voice at the National Theatre, introduces the recordings of Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 2, explaining how different emotions can be carried through shifts in the stress of syllables. From there, the listener is taken from the passionate and aggressive voices of Peter O’Toole (1963) and Albert Finney (1976) to the contemplative and emotional speeches by Simon Russell Beale (2000) and Rory Kinnear (2010).  

Analysis of the production’s posters by the Creative Director of the National’s Graphic Design Studio, Ollie Winser, demonstrates how a production’s approach can be encapsulated in its marketing, whilst the reference material for the Ghost’s costume in 2010 documents the process of costume-making.  

The display of Stage Managers’ reports and prompt scripts give an insight into the makings of the National Theatre’s productions in general, and just how much individual productions can vary from performance to performance.  Theatregoers will appreciate the comparison between two prompts scripts from 1963 and 2000, which show how technology has changed production at the National over half a century.  

‘5 Hamlets’ is a compelling exhibition which pays homage to the adaptability of ‘Hamlet’ and the capabilities of those behind its productions at the National. It reveals the theatre’s pattern for staging a production of ‘Hamlet’ once a decade, and leaves visitors yearning for the next one.