Wittenberg

In case you're not familiar, Wittenberg is where Hamlet (yes "that" Hamlet) went to university. So from the outset much of this play is like many that fall into the Shakespearean referential category, an inside joke and if you don't know Hamlet well, many of said inside jokes will fly right past you.

In my view the best realised play of this genre (and dare I say probably the best known) is Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Wittenberg as a play pales in comparison. Sure it's filled with quick-witted religious and philosophical debates between Martin Luther (Nick Curnow) and John Faustus (David Woodland). But it's just a little too clever by half and in its desire to be post-modern and turn Shakespeare on its head the overall message becomes jumbled and confused.

But I am not convinced that these problems are so much to do with the script and not this particular production. It would be interesting to see this play performed by a cast of seasoned actors because there is a sense of self-consciousness to a number of the performances. That said David Woodland as John Faustus is exceptional and in a league of his own. His musical interludes on the ukulele make it all worthwhile.

Don't get me wrong there are some notably entertaining moments in Wittenberg - the tennis match between Hamlet and Laertes which is a direct reference to the sword fight at the end of Hamlet is particularly clever and makes one wish for more of these moments.

Director Richard Hilliar uses the tiny restrictive space of The Old Fitzroy well and the set by Benjamin Brockman is indeed clever and athletically lovely.

Wittenbergwill give you some laughs, but it won't provide you with the answer to life, the universe and everything, even though it wants to.

Whitney Fitzsimmons

Images: Hamlet (Alexander Butt), John Faustas (David Woodland) and Martin Luther (Nick Curnow) & John Faustas (David Woodland) and The Eternal Feminine (Lana Kershaw). Photos by Katy Green Loughrey.