Blind Hamlet

This conceptual theatre piece dealt with writer Nassim Soleimanpour’s losing his sight, and we hear his voice through a dictaphone on stage. These passages were occasionally funny and well performed, but the evening became more muddled when the disembodied voice and the ‘stage manager’ started directing audience members. What followed was some enjoyable interaction and murder mystery games, such as asking the audience to look into the light through closed fingers to help empathise with Nassim’s loss of vision. The abrupt ending and lack of clearly discernible meaning however meant that Blind Hamlet sadly seemed confused and hollow rather than thought provoking or moving.

Studio Theatre, Brighton Dome, 13 September 2014
Rating:
Joe Fuller