Hamlet
Cast
Richard Chamberlain as Hamlet - Michael Redgrave as Polonius
Margaret Leighton as Gertrude - Richard Johnson as Claudius
John Gielgud as the ghost - Ciaran Madden as Ophelia
Quote from Voltaire
“The tragedy of Hamlet… is a coarse and barbarous piece, which would not be tolerated by the basest rabble in France or Italy. Hamlet goes mad in the second act, and his mistress goes mad in the third; the prince kills his mistress’s father, supposing him to be a rat, and the heroine throws herself into the river. Her grave is dug on the stage; gravediggers utter gibes appropriate to their calling, holding skulls in their hands; Prince hamlet replies to their gross language with jests not less disgusting. During this time, one of the actors is conquering Poland. hamlet, his mother and his step-father tipple together on stage; people sing, squabble, fight among themselves and kill each other; one would think that this work was the fruit of the imagination of a drunken savage.”
Voltaire.