The Play’s The Thing: A One Person Hamlet

Presented by Regeneration Theatre

‘I was completely blown away by 100 minutes of theatrical perfection‘ Audience member, New Diorama Theatre, April 2024 

Edited by Fiona Laird for a single performer across 90 minutes, this most cherished play takes on a startling new intensity. The prince is powerless against a tide of selfishness and injustice and loses his grip on reality. But if he really is mad, then is this story a figment of his broken imagination; the other characters merely voices in his head? Shakespeare’s language sings out – the timeless phrases we know so well given a new meaning seen through the prism of one soul. As Hamlet himself says, ‘The Play’s The Thing’. 

Mark Lockyer’s performance allows the audience to connect directly with Hamlet’s inner thoughts as Shakespeare lays out the play’s tragic questions. In this version, performed by one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of our age, we hold on to the belief that there is a way back from the darkest places of human experience. 

Regeneration’s Hamlet began when Fiona saw Mark playing two parts simultaneously in 2021’s Take Off Your Cornflakes at The White Bear Theatre, London and was subsequently developed at the National Theatre Studios. 

‘I cannot remember receiving Hamlet with more open ears and more abandon, such is Mark’s absolute commitment to and mastery of this timeless classic.’ Rufus Norris Artistic Director Royal National Theatre

In support of the National Youth Arts Trust