''Three Days (of Hamlet)'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

by Alex Hyde-White that follows his effort to produce a staged reading of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' at the Matrix Theatre in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

during three days in July 2010.

Cast

The cast includes Hyde-White (

Richard Chamberlain George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show '' Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shō ...

(

Polonius Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course o ...

), Stefanie Powers ( Gertrude), Tom Badal ( Claudius),

Peter Woodward Peter Woodward (born 24 January 1956) is a British actor, stuntman and screenwriter. He is probably best known for his role as Galen in the ''Babylon 5'' spin-offs '' Babylon 5: A Call to Arms'', ''Crusade'' and '' Babylon 5: The Lost Tales''. ...

(

Laertes In Greek mythology, Laertes (; grc, Λαέρτης, Laértēs ; also spelled Laërtes) was the king of the Cephallenians, an ethnic group who lived both on the Ionian islands and on the mainland, which he presumably inherited from his father A ...

/Player King) and

Joseph Culp Joseph Culp (born January 9, 1963) is an American actor and director. He is the son of actor Robert Culp and his second wife Nancy Ashe. He received his acting training at HB Studio in New York City. Early life Joseph Culp was born on January 9, ...

(Himself) Mara New (Producer)

Synopsis

The film builds on its main structure of on-stage happenings by juxtaposing stories from the players. Hyde-White weaves his own personal dramatic narrative about "Fathers and Sons" as he recalls stories from his childhood as the son of the well-known British actor

Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Ear ...

. At times, particularly when the character of Hamlet experiences the visitations from his father's ghost, King Hamlet, the line of what is theatre and what is real life is purposely deconstructed, and what happens onstage is commented on offstage, to achieve a self-reflective dynamic.

Reception

The film received some excellent reviews, won awards at three film festivals, including Carmel (2012) and played on Amazon Prime.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Official website
* 2012 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about theatre Films set in Los Angeles Works about Hamlet 2012 films 2010s American films {{arts-documentary-film-stub