What Hamlet can teach the Labour leadership about getting things right | Martin Kettle

Some dismiss artists as dreamers. But, as with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet, they see what works in rehearsal and change what doesn’t. Politicians take note

Thank goodness, not for the first time but especially now, that there is so much more to life than the Labour party. Thank goodness for the high hills, for test cricket, and for the symphonies of Sibelius. And thank goodness, this week in particular, for Hamlet.

The current production of Hamlet at London’s Barbican theatre is providing almost as much action off-stage as on. Yet the official first night is not until Tuesday, and one of the most reassuring nostrums in the theatre is the enduring thespian optimism that everything will be all right on the night. Worldly wisdom says this is impossible. Yet even Shakespeare took this view.

Related: The Guardian view on Hamlet: time to cool the hysteria | Editorial

Not everything magically comes right on the night. Getting things right is hard work, even for geniuses

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