The Scene:
a blustery day in August.
The
Place: Kronborg Castle, Helsignør, Denmark.
The
Player stood at the ready in the courtyard, in period costume.
The Crowd
gathered in anticipation...
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| Kronborg Castle, Helsignør, Denmark |
And thus began our guided tour of Kronborg Castle, led by
none other than Horatio, friend of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
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| Our guide, Horatio, friend to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark |
Horatio introduced himself to the group humbly as Hamlet’s
servant, though he told us the Prince considered him to be a most trusted
friend. He led us out of the courtyard to overlook the Swedish sea. The row of
heavy canons stood in their defensive position while the Danish flag flapped
proudly in the salty wind behind us.
It was there, Horatio told us while pointing to the flag,
that he first heard of a ghost appearing late at night. The grey weather was
indeed a strong supporting player in this performance as it added a sense of foreboding
around the castle grounds; it wasn’t at all difficult to picture a ghost
appearing nearby.
Horatio went on to explain the odd circumstances of the
ghost’s appearance: the King is newly dead, the Queen recently remarried her
deceased husband’s brother and “something
is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
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| The ghost of Hamlet's father appeared not far from the flag |
Our guide then beckoned us to follow him underneath the
castle, to a dark, dank, chilly corridor lit by real lanterns. There, among the
old piles of stones and the flickering light, Horatio told us how Hamlet insisted
those who’d seen the ghost and heard its lament swear not to reveal its tragic
secret. His sudden shout of “SWEAR!” shattered
the hushed calm and sent a loud echo that clanged off the stone walls, making
us all jump and shiver from the sudden goosebumps that spread across our necks.
It was a great moment that pulled us even further into the intrigue of the story.
As we wound ourselves through the castle’s dimly lit
underbelly, Horatio explained how Ophelia, Hamlet’s love, had tried to follow
them through these very passages and eavesdrop on their urgent discussions.
Hamlet already had doubts at this point over who he could trust and angrily dismissed
Ophelia, telling her to ‘get thee to a
nunnery’.
We suddenly found ourselves blinking in the daylight
outside the castle once again. Near the gates, Horatio pointed out the place
where he and Hamlet greeted the troupe of players and briefed them on his plan:
“The play’s the thing, wherein I’ll catch
the conscience of the King”.
He ushered us into the castle’s beautiful, ornate
chapel, where Claudius, deeply shaken from the play’s performance, prayed to
God. Horatio indicated the large stone pillars where Hamlet hid and watched his
uncle confess but upon hearing his admission of guilt, he could not bring
himself to kill him there, in God’s house, for he would surely be damned for
all eternity.
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| The Chapel, where Claudius prayed |
He then brought us to the chambers of the Queen.
This was the place, he told us gravely, that Hamlet
confronted his mother. As we peered through the narrow doorway into the chamber,
our attention was drawn to the large hanging tapestry…it was behind there
Hamlet noticed a figure lurking and eavesdropping...surely it was Claudius, the
murderer! However, the figure was revealed to be Polonius, who tragically met
his end there, stabbed through his hiding place by his daughter’s lover. This
moment was one of my favorite of the tour as there was a brilliantly timed thud from within the room, like that of
a lifeless body hitting the floor. It brought a terrific feeling of being
inside the story as it was unfolding.
We followed Horatio to another small chamber where he had
the unfortunate duty of helping Hamlet stash Polonius’ body. We paused in the
hallway, next to some tall gilded windows where Horatio told us of a strange
conversation they had with some gravediggers about a skull…but there was little
time to dwell on this, as word came that Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, had
challenged Hamlet to a duel over his sister’s recent suicide following their
father’s death. I was reminded again at this point just how many bodies this play
leaves in its wake.
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| The musician's box, where Polonius' body was stashed |
Finally, we reached the Great Hall, were the climactic
duel between Hamlet and Laertes took place. It was a grand room, with a smooth,
polished stone floor, tall windows, and dangling chandeliers. Horatio’s tale
picked up speed as he relayed the highlights of the duel: the unexpected points
Hamlet scored, the poisoned foils and the King and Queen both dying from
poisoned drink. His voice was full of emotion as he told us how as Hamlet lay
dying and Horatio himself was prepared to follow his friend into the afterlife,
the Prince made him take one more vow – to share the tale of what really
happened here at Helsignør, to dispel the rumours and to keep his memory alive –
hence his reason for taking us on the tour.
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| The Great Hall, setting of the final duel and body pile-up |
The In Hamlet’s Footsteps Tour was a fascinating theatrical experience. The Horatio
character makes the story quite accessible to those who aren’t familiar with
Shakespeare’s play - it’s basically an ‘essential plot-points’ version. For
those who have studied or seen Hamlet before (as I have – three different
times), it was exciting to experience the story in its inspired setting and to
anticipate where in the castle we’d go next.
In only 45 minutes, we got to experience all the
spookiness, lies, deceit, intrigue, murder and bloodiness of one of Shakespeare’s
most popular tragedies in one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. It couldn’t
have been set in a more beautiful and interesting place, fitting, considering Shakespeare himself
once said: “All the
world’s a stage…”
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| My pal Will Shakespeare |
