To be or not to be: Hamlet returns to the Buxton Festival

Yewon Han (Ophélie) and Gregory Feldmann (Hamlet)

Yewon Han (Ophélie)

Alastair Miles (Claudius), Allison Cook (Gertrude) and the Buxton Festival Chorus

Allison Cook (Gertrude) and Gregory Feldmann (Hamlet)

Gregory Feldmann (Hamlet)

By Mark Pullinger, 17 July 2025

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“dark, psychological staging... stylish without being cluttered”

Reviewed at Buxton Opera House, Buxton on 16 July 2025

Thomas, Hamlet

Adrian Kelly, Conductor

Jack Furness, Director

Sami Fendall, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Jake Wiltshire, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of Opera North

Buxton Festival Chorus

Gregory Feldmann, Hamlet

Yewon Han, Ophélie

Alastair Miles, Claudius

Allison Cook, Gertrude

Joshua Baxter, Laërte

Richard Woodall, Polonius

Tamsanqa Tylor Lamani, Marcellus

Dan D'Souza, Horatio

Per Bach Nissen, Ghost

Three card trick: compelling new Queen of Spades at Garsington

Roy Westbrook, 29th May

Jack Furness directs a terrific new Queen of Spades at Garsington – haunting and harrowing.

****1

A dystopian Hansel und Gretel at the RAM

Mark Valencia, 20th November

Jack Furness serves up an unappetising mess of Humperdinck's delicious masterpiece for Royal Academy Opera.

***11

Irish National Opera serves up a terrifically entertaining Faust

Andrew Larkin, 1st October

Jack Furness turns Faust into an Oppenheimer-type scientist in a powerful, well-sung staging in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre.

****1

Arcadia in the Peak District: Mozart's Il re pastore in Buxton

Sarah Noble, 9th July

Mozart's early opera seria may not be his greatest achievement – but lightness of touch from all involved highlight its charms in Jack Furness' new production.

***11

Andrei Serban's Turandot returns once more to the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 10th March

Riddle me this: what is the result of combining Andrei Serban's beloved staging of Turandot with Antonio Pappano's first stage outing of the piece? Answer: a thrilling evening.

****1

Utterly bewitching Rusalka at Garsington Opera

Dominic Lowe, 18th June

It's taken two years for Jack Furness' new production of Dvořák's greatest opera to reach the Garsington stage, but it is entirely worth the wait, with a breathtaking performance from Natalya Romaniw in the title role.

*****

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

To be or not to be: Hamlet returns to the Buxton International Festival