This year’s Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet, starring Paapa Essiedu, was just wonderful. I saw it twice, and was blown away by this young actor. I later saw him play Edmund in King Lear, and it’s clear that Essiedu will be a major actor in the near future.
The RSC filmed the production for broadcast to cinemas in June, and the DVD and Blu-Ray versions of this film are now available in the UK, and will be out in the US in a couple of weeks. (Amazon.com, Amazon UK)
This Hamlet – the first black actor to play the role at the RSC – is unconventional, but it works perfectly. The production was brilliant from start to finish, with a cast of fine actors, and excellent music, sets, and costumes. Read my review of the production, then order this disc. This is one of the great Hamlets.