Hamlet is a 1959 Australian TV play starring William Job and produced by Royston Morley.
It was one of the first two productions of Shakespeare transmitted by ABC, the other being Anthony and Cleopatra.
Contents
Cast
William Job as Hamlet
Henry Gilbert as the King
Georgie Sterling as the Queen
Owen Weingott as Laertes
Delia Williams as Ophelia
Gordon Glenwright as the Gravedigger
Douglas Hayes as the Gravedigger
James Lynch as Bernado
Grahame Webb as Francisco / Attendant
Frank Taylor as Horatio
Vaughan Tracey as Marcellus
Charles McCallum as Voltemand / Priest
Geoffrey King as Polonius
John Fegan as Ghost
Maurice Travers as Rosencrantz
James Elliott as Guildenstern
Lou Vernon as the Player King
Dennis Carroll as Player Queen
John Hurrell as Lucianus / Osric
Tony Arpino as Norwegian Captain
Geoffrey Hill as Fortinbras
Ria Sohier as Attendant
Anne Kelly as Attendant
Evelyn Kopfer as Attendant
John Brock as Attendant
David Bryant as Attendant
Kevin Williams as Attendant
Gary Deacon as Attendant
Production
William Job had played Hamlet on stage in Adelaide in 1952. He then went to England and Canada and had only recently returned to Australia, appearing in a TV production of The Seagull. It was Georgie Sterling's third TV appearance after The Multi-Coloured Umbrella and Sorry Wrong Number.
The show used some basic special effects to create the ghosts.
Owen Weingott helped choreograph the fight scene.
The production had a ten-minute intermission.
Reception
The production was well received. The Australian Woman's Weekly called it "two hours of engrossing TV... It was just pleasure and wonderful entertainment. Even if you didn't like Shakespeare, any televiewer would appreciate the notable production and camera work.... A most satisfying night of TV."
A critic from the Sunday Sydney Morning Herald said that it "proved that Shakespeare can be successfully translated to television" with Morley's direction responsible for "much of the credit... he kept the field of action small, relying on _closeups to intensify the drama. I also thought that William Job's portrayal of the young and tragic Dane was outstanding... A night to remember"
A critic from the daily Sydney Morning Herald thought the production suffered from "the skimping of preparation time, the skimping of histrionic talent, and the skimping of imagination and subtlety" although it said Job's performance was one of "sensitiveness, vision and skill".
The critic from The Age thought it was much better than Anthony and Cleopatra.
The Bulletin thought the tragedy of the play "shrank to middle-class size; Hamlet was a G.P.S. boy angry and hurt by what had been going on at home during term" but felt "the production was sound enough—even, in places, admirable."
It was repeated in 1961 and 1964.