Review of ‘Hotel Elsinore’: “To be completed or not to be delivered”

Riverside Studios hosts the return of this metadramatic piece revolving around the Bard’s greatest tragedy. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if, in this abridged version of the play, brevity is the soul of wit.

There are countless ways of reinventing Shakespeare. But no matter how far they drift away from their roots, all of them should abide by the same rule and suit the action to the word. If there’s something the London scene can’t claim a shortage of, that’s the overflowing stream of shows related to the Bard – from modernized approaches to his old-time classics to new pieces of writing exploring his work or lesser-known personal life.

From camp musicals like &Juliet to serious historical (and rather disappointing) recounts such as Hamnet, the creative fascination with the man from Stratford seems to be going nowhere but higher up.

And so, Riverside Studios welcomes the return of Hotel Elsinore – a three-hander abridged adaptation of the Prince of Denmark’s tragedy, delivered by a fictional family of actors as an homage to their now lost father and husband. Determined to give a dead good rendition, and prevent their cremated dad from being raking over the coals, the troupe improvises a rehearsal to replace the patriarch’s one-man version of Hamlet – performing in front of his urn, before doing it at a local festival to fill the gap he’s left.

Following the recurring concept of the “play within a play”, the show builds an enticing and somehow original structure anyway. And had it been furnished with more befitting accessories, its chances to stand out in its own right, other than being just another revision of a Shakespearean text, would have stayed much stronger.

Though entertaining at some points, the script struggles to engage with its audience on a general basis, as none of its lines land until Hamlet‘s finally come forward. Even when that happens, the comments the mother and siblings make on the Bard’s writing fail to provide anything else but a sense of detachment. It could have been an extraordinary display of wit, where the collision between both worlds is brought upon under a different, sharp pair of lenses. Sadly, though, the dialogue feels flat and unnatural – pushing too hard for an effect that, wistfully, never achieves.

As for the company, their performances are, all in all, enjoyable – improving significantly during their reenactments of Shakespeare’s excerpts. It is in those moments that we are actually compelled by the slightly hyperbolic allure of their style. Yet, that aura of charm evaporates by the time their “real” selves return to the scene. In addition, the staging is also worthy of mention – making a rather clever use of the hotel room’s props to evoke all the changing ambiances throughout the plot.

There’s nothing rotten in this state, but it’s not a ripe one either. Though parting from an excellent idea, and condensing the Bard’s creation with surprising efficiency, Hotel Elsinore comes off as low in occupancy in terms of depth, pathos, and sagacity – unable to accommodate any of these features in a prominent enough way to make a guest appearance. Further polishing and a fresher execution would help ease the contrast between both universes – as when Shakespeare’s contributions materialize, so does the show’s splendour. But the rest is silence.

Hotel Elsinore plays at London’s Riverside Studio until 3 May. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara