Shakespeare's Globe: A New Take

Directed by and starring Michelle Terry, Shakespeare's Globe's staging of Hamlet, asks much of the average theatre-goer: 1. be open-minded to some of the gender reversal roles; 2. be fully engaged even when the play is difficult to hear; and 3. be open to a modern blending of costume choice for this play. The paragraphs that follow will focus on the unique gender reversal roles of Hamlet and Ophelia. In the end, it will become apparent that subverting gender roles reflects the times at hand in
this particular production, and that it allows new perspectives to be gained.

In the play Hamlet, one of the resounding criticisms I heard from our class was the fact that Hamlet was played by a woman and Ophelia was played by a man. This at first seemed as a shock to me as well, but upon further inspection, the choice seemed to be much more of an homage to Shakespeare's original way of the telling of his plays. In Shakespeare's original plays, all characters were played by men. In an article by the British Library, they discuss how the original plays of Shakespeare transpired with male actors. Paying homage to Shakespeare's Globe seems like a fitting thing to do, while still being able to update the play and move it forward to represent the times.

In British Life and Culture, one of the main points of discussion was the notion that Europe is fixated on their history. Here, in this play, it would seem that Michelle Terry wants to honor history but still move the play in new directions. It is evident all of the actors that defied their "normal" role were fully onboard with Terry's vision.

Shubham Saraf, the actor who played Ophelia, discussed his thoughts on playing this historic role in an interview with WhatsOnStage. In the interview, there are a lot of points brought up and repeated instances of being "past gender." Hamlet, Terry's 2018 version, introduces these elements not to completely subvert the source material (in fact she is paying homage to a lot of it), but instead, she chooses to say there is nothing to subvert as that line shouldn't be there in the first place.