David Nixon “Hamlet”

David Nixon “Hamlet”
David Nixon’s “Hamlet” for Northern Ballet Theatre is set in Paris in 1940 during the Nazi occupation. The opening scene is in a railway station, full of smoke, where the isolated figure of the returning central character is suffering fleeting visions of his past. Suddenly, in a brilliant coup de theatre, red banners bearing the swastika drop from the flies and goose-stepping troops march through the local population.

Hamlet is neither royal, nor Danish but the scenario shadows Shakespeare’s drama in the playing of the major relationships in the context of power seeking in the world of collaborators.
“Hamlet” is about corruption and revenge and highlights the strengths of Northern Ballet Theatre who are accomplished dance-actors. The central role is a gift for Christopher Hinton-Lewis who possesses a face so expressive that one is able to read his interior monologues as he stares into the auditorium, like watch-ing a close-up in a movie. His partnering is accomplished and David Nixon gives him some rewarding pas de deux with various characters, but particularly Ophelia and Gertrude, where his strength and physical élan are shown to advantage. Georgina May as ...