In Act 3, Scene 2 of Hamlet, the prince asks a troupe of players to use their performance ‘to hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature’. He wants to show his adulterous mother and murdering uncle the truth of what they have done in killing his father and taking the throne of Denmark.

Drama, then, should show us the world, so it is appropriate that the RSC production of the play, currently touring, should reflect the realities of the global culture and multi-cultural society in which it is being performed. The cast are mostly black actors and Elsinore transported to an African country (still, conveniently, called Denmark) where the action is accompanied with African drumming and singing.

Paapa Essiedu was sublime as Hamlet, while Ewart James Walters excellent as both the ghostly king and a reggae gravedigger (this felt familiar. Did I see it, perhaps, in the Manchester Royal Exchange production recently?). Buom Tihngang as Laertes was at his best as the bereaved brother and son, while Mimi Ndiweni’s sung lament to her thwarted love for Hamlet’s was mesmerising.

The Lowry is a big space, and the atmospheric soundtrack which accompanied the action created unnecessary competition for the actors to be heard in some of the more subdued moments.

If the RSC are passing your way, I suggest that you take the chance to see a great production; one that may be talked about in the future as a defining take on Hamlet.