Waterhouse Blue

[Phil Hallard]

Thought some readers might be entertained by this 'Time Out' review a
friend sent me. It's a production of 'Hamlet', apparently underneath the
church where John Major got married, and... well, you'll see.

' Well they learned their lines. But that's the only remotely positive
thing that can be said about the cast of Nicholas Pegg's 'Hamlet', a
production that really should come with a health warning. Even before the
first sorry entrance, a huge, never-to-be-explained fluorescent spider,
daubed on to the stage floor, sets alarm bells rining. These fears are
confirmed by the ghost-spotting congregation on the Elsinore ramparts,
some of whom seemed to be suffering from serious spinal injuries, causing
substantial paralysis to the upper body. But it is only with the
appearance of Hamlet himself (Matthew Waterhouse) that we fully realise
what abysmal treasures lie in store.

Only the installation of Chris Eubank, opera producer Peter Sellars, the
Queen Mother, Boris Karloff or Sonya in the role of the Prince of Denmark
could outdo the casting misdemeanour here. From what I can gather, Mr
Waterhouse is actually three cardboard cut-outs: looking left; looking
right; and fists clenched (for madness). He makes his entrances and exits
in the guise of Robo-Ham, a high precision theatrical instrument that
stalks around the stage in a perfect straight line without even the
tiniest hint of expression. All this is topped off by a decidedly
unprincely, wooden gait and the classic countenance of your average
computer boffin. And so the moral complexities of Shakespeare's play are
overtaken by a couple of entirely new and original concerns: Can a side
of mutton really go mad? is it feigning madness? And who cares anyway?

--
__ THE BLACK DALEK __
'o `-O Society Poet by appointment to the DougSoc O-' o`
""""===-( Secretary to the Oxford Guild of Assassins )-===""""
|::|:\` '/:|::|
|::|: \ phil.h...@english.ox.ac.uk / :|::|
======== http://info.ox.ac.uk/~chri0073/ ========

[jsa...@agt.net]

> chri...@sable.ox.ac.uk (Phil Hallard) writes:
> But it is only with the
> appearance of Hamlet himself (Matthew Waterhouse) that we fully realise
> what abysmal treasures lie in store.

And I thought Paul Cornell was kiddin' around when he said that
he met Matthew Waterhouse at a party, the latter claiming to be
portraying _Hamlet_ in an upcoming play...

Sean Samson
jsa...@agt.net

[Jason A. Miller]

In article <48vq2p$2...@tigger.planet.eon.net>, jsa...@agt.net writes:
>And I thought Paul Cornell was kiddin' around when he said that
>he met Matthew Waterhouse at a party, the latter claiming to be
>portraying _Hamlet_ in an upcoming play...

It's not a surprise. Some of his most (in)famous DW lines
were in iambic pentameter.

That blue box I saw. I saw a blue box.

And now I'll never know if I was right.

-Jason A. Miller
"or lose them lightly, while we do snigger"

[R J Atkinson]

>And so the moral complexities of Shakespeare's play are
>overtaken by a couple of entirely new and original concerns: Can a side
>of mutton really go mad? is it feigning madness? And who cares anyway?

I'm not sure, but I think this has something to do with Jon Pertwee. But as you
said, who cares?

Rich
--
______________________________________________________________________________
"Good: now he's gone is there any chance of a cup of tea?"
R.J.At...@durham.ac.uk d3f...@altair.ac.uk
http://www.dur.ac.uk/~d3fk9e/

[Peter Anghelides]

In <DIn39...@utnetw.utoledo.edu>, jmil...@uoft02.utoledo.edu (Jason A. Miller) writes:
>In article <48vq2p$2...@tigger.planet.eon.net>, jsa...@agt.net writes:
>>And I thought Paul Cornell was kiddin' around when he said that
>>he met Matthew Waterhouse at a party, the latter claiming to be
>>portraying _Hamlet_ in an upcoming play...
> It's not a surprise. Some of his most (in)famous DW lines
>were in iambic pentameter.
>
>That blue box I saw. I saw a blue box.

Why are you linking Paul Cornell with a line that is clearly not
in iambic pentameter? I thought the curtain had come down on
"Trials of Tara".

Peter Anghelides

[Ian McIntire]

R J Atkinson <R.J.At...@durham.ac.uk> wrote, in numerous places and
in numerous ways:

>I'm not sure, but I think this has something to do with Jon Pertwee.

I'm not sure, but I think that Mr. Atkinson is on a Pertwee kick.

Flowingly,
Ian McIntire

"Holly! Put a trace on him!"
"Wot's a trace?"
"It's space jargon, for 'find him'!"
"No it's not. You just made it up to sound cool."

[Mike Teague]

In article 10...@zen.hursley.ibm.com, anghe...@vnet.ibm.com (Peter Anghelides) wrotes:

> I thought the curtain had come down on
>"Trials of Tara".

It has, we're just waiting for some curtains to come down on
Paul.........

8>)

/Mike.