You’ll get goosebumps watching The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre – it’s a side effect of being in the company of ghosts. Jack Thorne’s deeply affecting play, directed by Sam Mendes, recreates the rehearsals for John Gielgud’s 1964 Broadway production of Hamlet, in which Richard Burton played the Dane. Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn, as the two theatrical heroes slugging it out, summon their spirits. This play is about a lot of things – art, youth and ageing, sexuality, masculinity and celebrity – but perhaps most of all, it’s an ode to the idea that there’s beauty in the endeavour.
History tells us that Gielgud’s long-running production broke box-office records, but Burton’s Hamlet did not go on to become definitive. Based on two books by members of the company, Thorne’s play identifies the anxieties and frailties both men were bearing at the time. At 60, Gielgud felt himself becoming irrelevant, his acting style out of fashion; Burton, having just married Elizabeth Taylor (Tuppence Middleton), is one of the biggest stars in the world, drinking heavily, but craving immortality in art.
