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ONE of Shakespeare's more gloom-laden plays, I was surprised to see so many children below the age of 11 at Shakespeare for Kidz' Hamlet at The Radlett Centre last night Wednesday).

Although I am sure they enjoyed the songs and dance routines, in fact the opening few minutes had me thinking this was Shakespeare for infants, I was disturbed to see a little girl in front of me squirming in her seat as knives and swords were brandished before her. Hamlet has a lot of death in it and any responsible parent knows that knives and small children just don't mix.

For its intended age group, however, condensing the original four and a half-hour script into a musical theatre show is a very good idea. It not only makes Shakespearian drama more palatable, restoring the level of humour Elizabethan audiences would have expected, it proves a valuable English lesson for teens, without a textbook in sight.

Paul Parris is utterly compelling as Hamlet and gives the most heartfelt Yoric speech I think I've ever heard.

Melanie Dakin

11:58am Friday 5th October 2007

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