Last Term, future thespians from the Sixth Form of Bolton School Boys’ Division and several alumni travelled down to the Royal Theatre Windsor to watch, stage-side, former pupil Sir Ian McKellen perform in Hamlet.
After the show, they were treated to an audience with Director Sean Mathias and Sir Ian, who has made a number of visits to Bolton School in recent years. He asked the boys about their familiarity with Hamlet and their thoughts on his adaptation. The gathering fell into a conversation about playing 'age-blind' and how, in this production, the existential angst of a young man - Hamlet - was amplified by the sense that a famous Shakespearian actor and octogenarian was perhaps playing this role for the final time in his career. Sir Ian was delighted that the boys had made the effort to travel down from Bolton and took the opportunity to thank again those on the trip that had performed at his surprise 80th birthday party back in the summer of 2019.
The performance was the 83rd consecutive show of the play by the 82 year old Sir Ian.
