THEATRE: Negga reopens the gate on her theatre career

Paul O’Rourke

RUTH Negga, best known for her Oscar nominated turn in 2016’s ‘Loving’, is currently wowing audiences at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. 

While the acclaimed actress has some previous theatre experience under her thespian belt, most notably playing Ophelia in a London production of ‘Hamlet’ back in 2010, this is the first occasion her name and acting chops have been used to sell a show. 

Negga returns to the stage and the famous Shakespearean tragedy in the lead role of ‘Hamlet’, a bold casting move from director, Yael Farber. 

Bold on the one hand, but altogether necessary to shake things up a bit as her presence will no doubt attract a new audience for this timeless classic. 

A few moments into the play and Negga’s performance is so powerful that you forget the role is being played by a woman. 

At a time when there’s a clamour for transgender actors to play transgender characters, for gay actors to play gay characters, and for Asian actors to play Asian characters, Negga proves that gender or ethnicity doesn’t matter as she transports you to a world of suspended disbelief.

She’s not on her own, of course, and the ensemble which includes Owen Roe as Claudius, Fiona Bell as Gertrude, Aoife Duffin as Ophelia and Nick Dunning as Polonius, is a solid one. 

Susan Hilferty creates an air of magical mystery with her set design, aided by Paul Keogan’s sometimes ghostly lighting and Tom Lane’s dramatic sound. 

The performance itself runs at 3.5 hours including an interval which is not for the faint hearted, so pack your lozenges and a small inflatable cushion to ease the pain. Any minor discomfort you may suffer however pales into insignificance when you compare it with Negga’s physically demanding performance. 

She leaves every ounce of emotion on the stage, at times spitting with anger, on other occasions shedding the most genuine of tears. 

She alone is worth the ticket price and we award ‘Hamlet’ at the Gate a review score of four princely stars.

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