hamlet

last saturday morning, laura, katie, and i woke up bright and early (5:45) to get in line for tickets to see jude law in hamlet. we figured that we were already exhausted from the past week, and we may as well just compound it a little more. we waited in line until ten am when the box office opened and got box seats for the evening show for twenty-five pounds. then we went home and pretty much slept all day.

that night, we got all dressed up, grabbed dinner at nando's (the only restaurant around that does bottomless refills on sodas), and headed off to the theatre. we were pretty excited (because jude law is beautiful/amazing) and took pictures in front of the posters for the play/jude law. we were shown to our boxes like were some pretty special stuff. laura and i sat together, and we had our own private toilet and back exit. our box was roomy and the whole theatre was gorgeous. it was small--the actors did not use microphones. and we were sitting about ten feet from the front of the stage.

jude was even more beautiful in person. he was a bit distracting, actually. it took some effort to concentrate on what he was saying instead of...other things. he put so much energy and passion into the character of hamlet. it was the best rendition of the play i have ever seen and probably the best i will ever see. it was much better, even, than the three hour long kenneth branagh movie, which is fantastic. the set and costumes were all very simple. the set was stone on each side, like a castle, that opened in the back middle of the stage. jude wore semi-see-through clothes the entire time. most of the costumes were black, but everyone had their own particular style. it was all very simple and i loved it.

all of the actors did a fabulous job, but none were quite as good as jude. every move that he made was purposeful and in character. his posture, his way of speaking, sense of humor, everything contributed to his character as the ultimate hamlet. it was enthralling. i have never connected/understood a shakespeare play as well as i did with this one. it was absolutely amazing and i loved it.

after the show, we waited outside the back stage door for jude. there were probably two hundred other people there, and we were right at the front. it was pretty exciting and by the time jude actually came out, we were kind of being creeper/stalker giddy girls. we got two signatures, a bounty of pictures, and jude used my pen. we were pretty much freaking out. it was so much fun. love love love.