Five stars
* * * * *

There is something very special about Shakespeare 4 Kidz shows. For most youngsters they are a fantastic introduction to the world's greatest playwright.

Lots of adults avoid Shakespeare after being bored by him in the classroom but one hopes that anyone whose first contact with him is via this innovative company will return to his plays again and again, finding greater understanding and enjoyment each time.

S4K blends original text with modern language, laces story with catchy music and witty songs, and so creates easy-to-understand condensed versions of the plays, leaving in all the famous quotations and blitzing all the dull bits.

"This was a Hamlet which will stick in the memory for all the right reasons"

Hamlet follows in the wake of the company's successes with The Dream, Macbeth, the Tempest and Romeo and Juliet.

Croydon should be proud of S4K as it has very strong local links. Brains behind the works are co-writers Julian Chenery and Matt Gimblett. When Chenery, chief executive and director, doesn't have his S4K hat on he's busy writing the panto for the Mitre players!

Apparently Jude Law is down to play the Prince of Denmark in the West End next year with David Tennant playing him for the RSC.

But chances are they won't get a better reception than S4K's Hamlet, whose Croydon audiences just loved it. The vocal enthusiasm which greets curtain-up on the second half must have the performers grinning from ear to ear.

Hallmarks of S4K shows are their originality, vitality and sense of humour. In Paul Parris the company has a Hamlet who the kids can instantly relate to: he captured the character's reflective philosophising but primarily he's a clown whose physical antics and gooning extract far more laughter than is usual from the tragedy.

"The vocal enthusiasm which greets curtain-up on the second half must have the performers grinning from ear to ear"

Jason Lee Scott was a menacing Claudius with a great voice, Tommi Baxter-Hill a dishy Laertes who gets down to some fiery swordsmanship with Hamlet, and Marianne Hare (who had early drama training locally) was a demure Ophelia.

Also chipping in with the funny stuff were Gavin Woods (very tall) and Sean Luckham (tubby) as soldiers of the watch and goofy gravediggers.

This was a Hamlet which will stick in the memory for all the right reasons.

Diana Eccleston - Croydon Advertiser