Hamlet
Cast & Crew
Cast
| Barnardo | Richard Cordery |
|---|---|
| Claudius | Derek Godfrey |
| Cornelius | Sion Tudor-Owen |
| English Ambassador | Richard Cordery |
| Fortinbras | William Armstrong |
| Francisco | Rolf Saxon |
| Gertrude | Barbara Leigh-Hunt |
| Gravedigger 1 | David Waller |
| Gravedigger 2 | Dennis Clinton |
| Guildenstern | Gordon Dulieu |
| Hamlet | Michael Pennington |
| Horatio | Tom Wilkinson |
| Lady | Sara Moore |
| Lady | Patricia Shakesby |
| Laertes | Michael Siberry |
| Lucianus | Rolf Saxon |
| Marcellus | Dennis Clinton |
| Norwegian Captain | Richard Cordery |
| Old Hamlet’s Ghost | David Waller |
| Ophelia | Carol Royle |
| Osric | Hugh Ross |
| Player 1 | Bruce Purchase |
| Player Queen | Kilian McKenna |
| Polonius | Tony Church |
| Prologue | William Armstrong |
| Reynaldo | Raymond Llewellyn |
| Rosencrantz | Hugh Ross |
| Sailor 1 | Rolf Saxon |
| Soldier | Raymond Llewellyn |
| Soldier | Kilian McKenna |
| Soldier | Rolf Saxon |
| Voltemand | John Darrell |
Crew | |
| Designer | Ralph Koltai |
| Director | John Barton |
| Light Designer | Clive Morris |
| Music by | James Walker |
| Playwright | William Shakespeare |
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Photographs
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Observations
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I was a lowly ‘showman’ on this production (along with most other productions at The Aldwych during the period September 1978 – Cousin Vladimir – through to curtain down on the last night of Richard II at The Aldwych before the move to The Barbican).
The production of Hamlet, dir John Barton, had a fairly stoccato time during on stage rehearsals for the technical. The set (from memory) involved a lot of black fur fabric which none of the stage staff liked working with. The stuff was hanging down from flown barrels in great swathes and, during lunch and tea breaks, Ralph Koltai was left on stage trying desperately to make this material hang well and look as he had imagined. I remember taking pity on him in his struggle – so I stayed behind. His sense of relief to have some help was palpable. I think he had a fear that the fur fabric had been a bad error of judgement. Anyhow, eventually it started to look slightly better….and he was reasonably happy. I got on well with Ralph – he was a highly creative man. It was only later that I found out about his interesting history and how he had been an interpreter at the Nuremburg Trials.
During show’s run I had the unenviable job of lying under the stage looking out of the grave and handing poor Yorick’s skull to Michael Pennington when he needed it. Every night I marveled at his immacuale delivery of the famous lines as though they were fresh to his mind.
I did not know it at the time, but my wife to be, Emma Ginnett, was also working on the production as a wig and make-up artist looking after Carol Royle (among others).
This very day (12th July 2023) a drawing by Ralph Koltai of both Michael Pennington and Carol Royle – which was presumably once part of Ralph’s design book for Hamlet – came up for sale in Sussex and I bought it because of my fond memories of that time. So I intend to upload a copy for others to see.
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