MovieChat Forums > Hamlet (2010) Discussion > And I flew to England to see this...

And I flew to England to see this...

posted 15 years ago by sights0d
17 replies | jump to latest

So the wife and I flew from Sacramento, California to London to see this being performed and we find that Tennant apparently injured his back while packing up his stuff in Stratford (such was our understanding)... and we were just floored. Mind you, his understudy was incredible and Patrick Stewart floored us, so it was all still worth it... but I'm really glad we'll hopefully get to see him. I mean... we understood that he was injured and all, but wow were we disappointed.

Now... on the other hand, my wife and I both try to get our students to go to live theater, even going so far as to offer extra credit for attending local plays. It's awesome when a student says he/she couldn't make it to the local production of Hamlet and I say "You know... my wife and I flew to LONDON to see Hamlet... so you claiming you couldn't go to one downtown... let's just say 'that dog won't hunt.'"

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Meimi132 15 years ago

Ya'll can't complain just cos you flew to the UK to see him. Yes it must have sucked that thats when he got injured, I would have been devestated if it happened when I went to see Hamlet & Loves Labours Lost in Stratford.

But this was inevitable, a tv or movie version I mean. After all, it had Tennant AND Patrick Stuart in. Think of the money to made off DVD sales. I hoped so much it would happen, even though I got to see it in Stratford.
So really, people who wanted to see it loads cudda waited untill this joyous event.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] hrafn1 15 years ago

"I for one am delighted that it's being recorded, and have been following developments from the start, but I wouldnt swap the DVD for the experiences I had in those theatres."

I agree. I didn't see this in Stratford but saw Stewart in "Antony and Cleopatra" and "The Tempest" in 2006 and again in "Twelfth Night" and "Macbeth" in Chichester and there is no describing the difference. The last one is without a doubt the greatest theatrical experience of my life. This is not like having seen it in Stratford but at least I will be able to watch it.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] sights0d 15 years ago

Well... complaining... not really. I was certainly saddened by it, but I wasn't saying that I didn't want it to appear on DVD... That would be ridiculous.

[–] drifter_potc 14 years ago

"Now... on the other hand, my wife and I both try to get our students to go to live theater, even going so far as to offer extra credit for attending local plays." Sound familiar. You don't teach in Oklahoma do you?

"What do monsters have nightmares about?"
"Me! Ha!"

[–] princessmadelynne 14 years ago

I think every teacher does this to a degree. I know mine did, and I live in neither Oklahoma nor Sacramento (though I do live about 90 minutes away...). In fact, I studied to be an English teacher, and I know I'll give extra credit for attending a play once I have students. As others here have said, there's something special (dare I say "magical") about live theater. It connects you to the play like reading or seeing it on film just can't do, and it seems that not very many people are being taught to appreciate it anymore.

I would love to be able to see a play in Stratford or London... of course, my favorite Shakespearean play is Cymbeline, so the chances of seeing that one are rather low. (Failing that, I'd love to see Much Ado About Nothing, but I'll take almost anything.) I'll just have to add that to my "Things I'll Do Once I Finally Make It To England" list.

[–] bradjanet 14 years ago

Wow ... you and I must be the only ones in the world who think "Cymbeline" is major Shakespeare. I've only seen the old tv version with Vanessa Redgrave ... and loved it.

But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.

[–] princessmadelynne 14 years ago

I've never heard of a tv version... but I agree with you on "Cymbeline." I had a Shakespeare professor teach from it once (he taught on one of every genre, "Cymbeline" went under "problem plays/romances"), and that's when I fell for it. I took another Shakespeare class once I transferred colleges, and I asked my second prof if he was going to teach it, and he gave me the strangest look after I told him it was one of my favorite plays... he couldn't understand why I would enjoy such a weird play, and I told him that was exactly why I like it.

[–] bradjanet 14 years ago

It's one of the BBC's complete works serie from the seventies, some of which are available separately, such as the Macbeth with Nicol Williamson, the Hamlet with Derek Jacobi and the Midsummer Night's Dream with Helen Mirren, but here at least, Cymbeline is only available as part of the enormously expensive complete boxed set.. Redgrave plays Inogen, of course, and the production is excellent. The songs are among the loveliest Shakespeare ever wrote, your professor was a blockhead.

But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.

[–] sights0d 14 years ago

I just got back to see this thread. Didn't expect it to get any play, really.

So I'm watching it now... I like it. I wish they'd done it just like they did in the theater... but that's OK. It's still good.

The pity of it is that the set they used was probably one of the more innovative ones I've ever seen for Hamlet. I once saw one back in New Jersey with a circular and rotating stage... but the mirror thing in Tennant's was something to behold.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] lisamj1973 14 years ago

Wonderful that you got to see it live, but you know, not everyone has the money, the time or the resources to go to see the theatre live let alone to go to England from the US to see it. I have no idea where you live, and what the educational level or xocio-economic status of your students is, but it seems a little overly privileged and a bit classist to say to your students, "well I went to London to see a play and you didn't go to see one locally," when they might not be able to afford it or have other reasons why they couldn't go. I don 't know if you made special sacrifices to go or had to really save up or make special arrangements or not or if it was easily in reach for you to go but it seems just a bit unfair to put someone down for not going to a play(s) , when there could be a myriad of reasons, including economic, why they are unable to attend the theatre live. Also, even if your students "seem" like they could afford to go because they live in a nice neighborhood or go to a fancy school etc, you never know what might be going on with a person or a family (financial turn around, barely holding on, living beyond their means, scholarship student, sick family member they have to take care of etc) so you can't ASSUME.

[–] BelleCBelle 11 years ago

My first thought to the beginning post of this thread was "there are months when I sweat paying my utility bills, and people whine about who they get to see live when they fly to London to see a production of Shakespeare? Perspective needed here, and not by me."

http://etsy.com/shop/MimiLovesCrochet#/

[–] mec98 13 years ago

I'm flying to London to see Tennant and Catherine Tate in "Much Ado About Nothing" this summer. I hope nothing like that happens to me!

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Was today really necessary?

[–] bron-tay 11 years ago

Oh my god. Well, look at it this way: you got to see two different Hamlets ultimately.

I wanted to fly to London to see Michael Sheen's Hamlet even though it would have been a wild expenditure thanks to all the terrorism taxes these days, and it never even occurred to me I might get stuck with an understudy's performance. I didn't go in the end anyway. Plane ticket $300, taxes and fees kicked it over a thou.

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