Alas, poor Olivier, I thought the set designer would have known better

Hamlet at the National. 30th of september 2010. 1st preview of the production.

I have a fair few levels of pre formed expectations before I step through any auditorium door.

If its a fringe show, I will forgive most, as I know they most commonly have the least. In the spirit of the nettle soup of the world war, you put up with what you've got. Instead in those cases, I look for sparks of gold, for ingenuity and genius in times of struggle, for brilliance in what costs them nothing, their own talent, be it in design or performance. I have been richly rewarded in the past.

As we go up the food chain, my expectation grows, knowing what I know of funding and production development assistance, the closer to National work I get, the more I want to see for my money. If it's a respectable venue, then I know the letters 'LAMDA' or 'RADA' wont be far off the cast list bios. The level of marketing is always a clue, but with the higher the budget the more I can be sure that the senior production creative team will have their own stellar CV's and skill to add.

This prejudgement I would argue as fair. I have seen more potential from companies limited by funds then work ruined by too much (with the exception of 'Nation' at the NT. Never before has too much set design been such a bad thing).

With all this in mind, I just cant seem to forgive the Designer and Director for their glaring oversight for Hamlet.

The set beautifully represented visually the Director's interpretation, as all good sets should do. It wasn't imposing, it was complimentary. The multiple yet generic venues within the same compound emerged cleverly by the moving walls. The hints at the 'us and them' mentality within the characters shown through the costume colour schemes was masterful. In simple terms, the set was very good... except that one of the protruding walls made it impossible for the right hand side of the circle to see half the stage.

Yes, I paid £10 for a Travelex ticket, but I've paid £5 for an RSC Stratford show and could see everything in perfect composition there. I would have certainly been marked down significantly for a such a decision if I presented that design decision whilst at university, and I shall hope that for the rest of my career I will never understand how it came to be that the audience's perception was put as anything other then the highest importance. At the National of all places.