Review: Hamlet has a mother his friends would like to... in Gertrude - The Cry, Theatre N16
18/06/2016
Izabella Urbanowicz as Gertrude and Alexander Hulme as Claudius in Gertrude at Theatre N16 (c) Roy Tan
Spent a lot of time during this production of Howard Barker's Gertrude - The Cry thinking about the playwright and what had inspired him. As the play progressed I couldn't help wondering if he'd been jilted or spurned but I'll come back to that.
The Cry is a re-imagining of Shakespeare's Hamlet but with his mother Gertrude as the central character. The cards are laid on the table in the opening scene. Gertrude (Izabella Urbanowicz) and her lover Claudius (Alexander Hulme) are going to kill her husband, Old Hamlet, and they copulate on his body as he dies. Copulate is too polite, the word 'f*ck' more accurately sums up the sentiment of the act.
Gertrude is sexy and sexually objectified. She's 35-years old, we keep being told by Barker's script, and I'm not sure if that is suppose to make us think 'she's young and has certain appetites' or that 'she's too old for such passion'. The opening act elicits from her the cry of the title and Claudius becomes obsessed with that sound and the emotion behind it. He wants to make her make it again.
But Claudius isn't the only one obsessed with Gertrude. Polonius of Shakespeare's play is reborn as Cascan (Stephen Oswald) Gertrude's loyal servant who knows exactly what she wants without her even asking. Then there is Albert (David Zachary) who is open about his desire for carnal knowledge of his friend Hamlet's mother. Gertrude flirts with all and is unfaithful to Claudius.
Jamie Hutchins as Hamlet in Gertrude at Theatre N16 (c) Roy Tan
Hamlet (Jamie Hutchins) is troubled from the start - unsurprisingly given the level of overt horniness being displayed by pretty much everyone around him. He's self-absorbed, distrustful and disillusioned with relationships and love. Ophelia is reborn as Ragusa (LJ Reeves) virginal and awkward but she learns fast - but not with Hamlet. There is an additional character, Isola (Liza Keast) who is Old Hamlet and Claudius' mother. She doesn't like Gertrude and doesn't mind telling her to her face. She is the archetypal jealous mother in law, in fact motherhood has a rough ride generally, particularly when a little sister appears for Hamlet.
What you get is a play that is devoid of romance and sentimentally instead this is about dirty, rough, sweaty, ugly passion and sex. It's about the human spectrum of lust and physical love. We don't get to know Gertrude in any other way. Outside sexual desire and the power that her sex seems to wield she feels shallow, an empty, lust-drunk husk. As the play progresses she looks increasingly dishevelled but that doesn't seem to lessen the desire for her.
If liberal use of the c-word and exposure of naked breasts shocks then you will be shocked. If you've seen a Sarah Kane play - she was a fan of Barker apparently - then you may feel on slightly familiar territory. You could read this play as feminist or misogynistic. For me I was left wondering about Barker's relationship with woman, hence my opening. If the aim is to show how women are seen as sex objects then surely you need to demonstrate that there is more to them than sex? The equality, perhaps, is that men and women have the same passion and lust but in the end Gertrude felt like a woman who is desperate rather than empowered by her sexuality.
The production oozes with sexuality, the language is ripe and the performances are strong - they have to be - but I'm not sure I liked the play that much. That can be a good thing, there is certainly plenty to ponder and discuss but I'm giving it three stars. You can see it at Theatre N16 in Balham until June 30.
* The only other Howard Barker play I've seen is Scenes From An Execution starring Fiona Shaw, which I really enjoyed.