The Royal Shakespeare Company in Britain use a real human skull in their production of Hamlet.
This is not as offensive as it sounds because the skull belonged to a Polish pianist who fled to Britain to escape the Nazis and wanted it to be used for this purpose upon his death. He died in 1982.
Alas, poor skull - human remains deemed too much for Hamlet audiences to handle
By Daily Mail Reporter
03rd December 2008
Daily Mail
A human skull will no longer be used in the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Hamlet in case it distracts the audience, the theatre company said yesterday.
The skull of Polish pianist Andre Tchaikowsky was used throughout the play's recent run in Stratford-upon-Avon, but the unusual prop will be dropped when it opens in London's West End tomorrow.
Audiences in Stratford were unaware the skull in the play belonged to the pianist, who had bequeathed it to the RSC in 1982 for this purpose, a spokeswoman said.
David Tennant will no longer be using Andre Tchaikowsky's skull in productions of Hamlet
But the secret spilled out when actor David Tennant, who plays Hamlet, revealed it in a newspaper interview.
The RSC told Channel 4 News that now the secret is out, it would be 'too distracting for the audience' if the skull was used.
Substituting the real skull for a fake one will also stop the RSC having to gain permission from the Human Tissue Authority, which it needed before using the real one in Stratford, the spokeswoman added.
'We never planned to use the real one in the London run,' she said.
Tennant with the skull in a previous performance
In the Stratford production, Tennant held the skull aloft in the 'Alas poor Yorick' scene of the play, fulfilling the dying wish of Mr Tchaikowsky - a Polish Jew who escaped the Holocaust but died of cancer aged 46.
His former agent and friend Terry Harrison told Channel 4 News he was 'disappointed' by the decision to abandon the real skull.
dailymail.co.uk
This is not as offensive as it sounds because the skull belonged to a Polish pianist who fled to Britain to escape the Nazis and wanted it to be used for this purpose upon his death. He died in 1982.
Alas, poor skull - human remains deemed too much for Hamlet audiences to handle
By Daily Mail Reporter
03rd December 2008
Daily Mail
A human skull will no longer be used in the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Hamlet in case it distracts the audience, the theatre company said yesterday.
The skull of Polish pianist Andre Tchaikowsky was used throughout the play's recent run in Stratford-upon-Avon, but the unusual prop will be dropped when it opens in London's West End tomorrow.
Audiences in Stratford were unaware the skull in the play belonged to the pianist, who had bequeathed it to the RSC in 1982 for this purpose, a spokeswoman said.
David Tennant will no longer be using Andre Tchaikowsky's skull in productions of Hamlet
But the secret spilled out when actor David Tennant, who plays Hamlet, revealed it in a newspaper interview.
The RSC told Channel 4 News that now the secret is out, it would be 'too distracting for the audience' if the skull was used.
Substituting the real skull for a fake one will also stop the RSC having to gain permission from the Human Tissue Authority, which it needed before using the real one in Stratford, the spokeswoman added.
'We never planned to use the real one in the London run,' she said.
Tennant with the skull in a previous performance
In the Stratford production, Tennant held the skull aloft in the 'Alas poor Yorick' scene of the play, fulfilling the dying wish of Mr Tchaikowsky - a Polish Jew who escaped the Holocaust but died of cancer aged 46.
His former agent and friend Terry Harrison told Channel 4 News he was 'disappointed' by the decision to abandon the real skull.
dailymail.co.uk