REVIEW: Gertrude - The Cry, Theatre N16 ✭✭✭✭

Izabella Urbanowicz (Gertrude) and Alexander Hulme (Claudius). Photo: Roy Tan Gertrude: The Cry

Theatre N16

15 June 2016

4 Stars

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Anyone who thinks Shakespeare is all about fancy collars and whimsical romance would get a shock if they attended a pub theatre in Balham this week. Howard Barker’s dark and grubby take on Hamlet is possibly one of the grungiest shows in London at the moment, presenting a thought provoking if unsettling evening.

Hamlet’s mother Gertrude is placed at the centre of this radical reworking; straight after having killed her husband, she starts seeing infatuated Claudius, to the horror of her troubled son. The play follows Gertrude as she falls in and out of love with a variety of different men and struggles to keep a lid on her chaotic family and personal life.

Izabella Irbanowicz. Photo: Roy Tan

Barker’s play has occasionally been accused of being misogynistic and it’s easy to see why. Gertrude’s life seems to revolve around sex and shoes and through her feminine wiles seems to wreck the happiness of everyone she encounters.

Having said that, she is portrayed as so smart and alluring that Barker just about pulls it off. Gertrude is constantly pulling the strings, manipulating the men in her life, until her sanity gradually falls apart.

Barker’s script is beautifully lyrical and he has a real gift for wordcraft. However, he is anything but subtle; Gertrude is eulogised and obsessed over from the first minute (I’d scribbled ‘relentless’ on my notepad after only 15 minutes). Barker may be a lovely chap but based on his script I manage him to be a bit like his brilliantly written Hamlet; a man with a one track mind.

Alexander Hulme (Claudia), David Zachary (Albert) and Izabella Urbanowicz (Gertrude). Photo: Roy Tan

Izabella Urbanowicz is a captivating Gertrude, even if she looks a touch young for the character’s 34 years. Prowling around the stage with intensity, she more than lives up to Gertrude’s star billing. She makes Gertrude just likeable enough to be believable, whilst still capturing her outrageous undercurrent

My favourite performance though was Jamie Hutchins as the sensitive and confused Hamlet. In a play where there is all manner of sordidness taking place, it was beneficial to have one character with a strong emotional core. Hutchins touchingly conveys Hamlet’s fragile mental state and frustration at his out of control mother; it was a massively complex and well-rounded performance – Hutchins may be one to watch.

Jamie Hutchins. Photo: Roy Tan

The play is a very long two hours (they wisely decided to add an interval for the performance I attended), and Barker’s often circular dialogue could have benefited from judicious editing, especially culling some fairly unnecessary narration.

Felicity Reid’s set was nicely crafted; a stark catwalk allowing for an intimate feel to the production. Having said that, the projections that lit the back wall were not too effective and served as a bit of a distraction.

Chris Hislop’s direction is shrewd and although parts do push the boundaries, none of the nudity or sex feels in any way gratuitous. Although it is a challenging and complicated play, it was well acted enough to make for an entertaining night out.

GERTRUDE - THE CRY RUNS UNTIL 30TH JUN E 2016 AT THEATRE N16. BOOK NOW