Hamlet fans will love this: Re-Member Me, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed

A puzzle at Hampstead Theatre. Literally, a brain teaser. Its new production, Re-member Me, is a one-man show written and performed by Dickie Beau, whose name is a punning allusion to a bow tie. The oddly spelled word, ‘re-member’ refers to the process of reassembling the separated limbs of a dramatic character during the rehearsal process. The poster for the production centres on Mr Beau dressed in 1980s sports gear and wearing a T-shirt blazoned with the logo of ‘Wittenberg University’, written in German. Enfolding his skull is a rainbow headband.

These details tell us that the play examines the character of Hamlet with a particular focus on the travails of gay actors performing the role during the 1980s Aids epidemic. But this data is intelligible only to those who have already paid for and sat through the production. So as a promotional tool, the poster is useless. Crucially it neglects to mention that the show includes taped reminiscences from John Gielgud, Richard Eyre and Ian McKellen who discuss the unique challenges presented by the play. Why not use these starry names to spark interest at the box office? Very baffling.

The show opens in the same mysterious manner. The curtain rises on a stage scattered with broken tailor’s mannequins which Mr Beau gathers together as if trying to honour the promise about ‘re-membering’ made in the title. Bizarre.

Then the recordings begin and a measure of clarity arrives. Richard Eyre says he was electrified by Peter O’Toole’s Hamlet back in 1963. Ian Charleson, who starred as Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire, was hired by Eyre to play Hamlet at the Olivier in 1989.