Review: RE-MEMBER ME, Hampstead Theatre

Athletes have the Olympics. Chefs have Michelin stars. Actors have Hamlet. Citius, altius, fortius, Danish.

In his one-man show Re-member Me (co-devised and directed by Jan Willem Van Den Bosch), Dickie Beau ponders death, mortality and legacy but not in a morbid way; it’s less a shoegazing mope and mumble about whether “to be or not to be”, more a defiant exploration of what it is “to be and not to be”.

Beau’s unique performance style has a cult following and its fans include Ian McKellen and Benedict Cumberbatch. To call it lip-syncing is only partially true: it is not just his flaps that move in time to the audio he assembles for each show. Each pre-recorded voice we hear becomes much more than just a voice. Indeed, he appears bodily possessed, almost haunted by the person speaking. The effect can be humorous but, when the voice is of someone who has passed on, there’s a spooky, chilly flavour to this live post-life revival.

Great use is made of interviews with those who have taken on Hamlet either as director (Richard Eyre) or actor (McKellen) and excerpts of past performances from Peter O’Toole and John Gielgud. With so many references to the work and those who have brought it to the stage, there’s a danger that this production could be viewed as luvvie-fest of interest only to BA English graduates. That would be a misunderstanding of both the ubiquitous nature of the play and what Beau does with its themes.

While it's false that we are never more than six feet away from a rat in London, it certainly seems that we are never more than a few months away from seeing someone heavily emote on just how rotten things are in the state of Denmark. When Re-member Me ran in 2017, it was performed on the same Almeida stage that was hosting its own Hamlet starring Andrew Scott.

While there is no such competition at Hampstead Theatre, the National’s critically-acclaimed The Motive And The Cue – about the 1964 Broadway version directed by Gielgud and starring Richard Burton – is playing to a packed house and looking good for a transfer to the West End next year. Even when it’s not in the listings, its immortal phrases refuse to “shuffle off this mortal coil”.

Beau’s killer stroke here is to give Hamlet’s gloomy undercurrents flesh in the form of a eulogy of sorts for Ian Charleson. In 1989, the Chariots of Fire actor was brought in by Eyre as an emergency mid-run replacement for Daniel Day-Lewis; the latter had collapsed backstage after saying that he had seen a ghost of his own father while playing the Dane (he later recanted this).

Charleson was at the time very ill – he died less than two months after taking his final bow at the National - but left a hefty impression on all, Sunday Times critic Peter James called “masterful” and McKellen famously gave his Evening Standard Best Actor award to his friend, declaring him a more deserving person and the “perfect Hamlet”.

McKellen himself is a central figure throughout. His voice is the most recognisable and provides much of the humour as he recollects wistfully his own stabs at the role and his thoughts on his deceased colleague. His admiration for Beau and this show was evident a few nights ago when he decided to celebrate his 84th birthday by turning up to see it (Benedict Cumberbatch is also a fan, saying “this feels like a new evolution in terms of theatre. It has to just be witnessed. It’s a marvel to behold.”).

In Re-member Me’s darkest moments, Beau channels the voices of those there at time time to vividly illustrate the stark situation – professionally, sexually and socially -  of gays in the 1980s, a reminder (if we needed one) of the rotten state of the UK at the time.

Hamlet holds a unique position in the theatrical landscape. It has made many a famous name and few plays ask more of its lead (and, sometimes, its audience too). The way Beau uses his inimitable talents to hold it up to the light in the same way the Prince holds up his friend’s skull - an act of both rememberance and reflection - is both moving and insightful. Not all of Re-member Me hits the mark – the musical mashups are fun but feel part of another show while occasionally it is impossible who to tell he is voicing – but there’s more than enough here to take the breath away.

Re-member Me continues at Hampstead Theatre until 17 June.

Photo credit: Sarah Lewis

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