About this design
Too many people are sadly disenchanted by Shakespeare from having studied it in classrooms rather than received it as an audience member in the way that it was meant to be. The language, rhyme and metaphor of Shakespeare is without measure, (unless it is for measure) but theatre is without question the actors medium, and so it is that the real grit of all of his creations, the one that all the great actors must play should they be young enough to do so is the role of the Prince of Denmark. The burden of the complex psychological nature of both character, premise and plot in addition to the sheer amount of stage time and line learning for this monstrous role makes it the Everest of the genre, if followed swiftly by the K2 that is King Lear. I recently saw David Tennant in the role, and rue that I am far too young to have experienced Olivier in it except for his 1948 Oscar winning film version. Of course anyone who had never seen a production nor even a film rendition will be able to complete the opening couplet of the divine soliloquy about the very nature of human existence "To be...". Some people can afford even to put it on their private number plates. Dark, menacing, moody, magnificent.