Hamlet: Drama of Vengeance

With live score by Robin Harris, performed by Robin and Laura Anstee

Hamlet (1921)
Directed by Svend Gade & Heinz Schall

For those who know the Shakespeare play, this Hamlet is not without its surprises. The film’s departures from Shakespeare are as striking and conspicuous as are its points of adherence. Asta Nielsen’s unmannered performance at its centre, coupled with eloquent use of breath-taking, expressionist sets, which so strikingly showcase that performance, ensure that the film’s imagery and resonances linger in the mind long after the final frame. In 2005, a colour-tinted print of the film was rediscovered in Germany and it is this print, beautifully restored by the Deutsches Filminstitut, that is being screened today.

Robin Harris will be performing his musical score for this suspenseful re-imagining of the epic Shakespearean story.

Robin Harris
Piano, Accordion, Recorder, Percussion, Djembe, Mbira, Singing Bowls and Small Hand Percussion
Robin Harris is a London-based composer and musician. He performs and records across many genres of music and has worked with many different companies including Punchdrunk, BBC Comedy, BBC Online Content and The London Dixieland Jazz Band to name but a few. Robin Harris performed his score of silent film Der Golem (1920) to sell out audiences at Wilton's in 2012. He has also performed regularly in the Mahogany Bar including for the enormously popular Tuesday Blowout big band nights (view the video in our gallery here) and as part of the entertainment surrounding The Great Gatsby. robinharris.info

Laura Anstee
Cello, Xylophone, Bass Drum and Cymbal
Laura Anstee trained as a ’cellist at the Royal Academy of Music with Mats Lidström and Philip Sheppard. She has collaborated with composers György Kurtág, Arvo Pärt and Judith Weir, worked with the BBC Orchestras and on the West End shows Les Misérables and Sister Act and performs frequently at Sadlers Wells Theatre with many international dance companies. Notable recordings and live performances include work for Beyonce, JayZ, Florence and the Machine, Paul McCartney, Shirley Bassey, Noel Gallagher, Tom Jones, Paul Weller, Roger Daltrey, Brian May, Ray Davies, Emma Bunton, Ricky Martin, Plan B, Kanye West and Placebo.