>>126 I don't think that doing an NT Live would necessarily undermine what they said about the ballot system, at least what they said at first - it was supposed to be about fairness in getting tickets. And while there doubtless would be people who got tickets complaining that they had to go through that whole process, and pay X to go to London and Y to see the play when others could just go to an NT Live showing, I think there would be many, many others happy to have an expanded opportunity to see it. (Not to mention that those who saw it live, saw it live and were mere meters away from the performers!)

Doing NT Live might somewhat contradict the recent quote from the head of RADA who talked about it being about the art, not about making as much money off it as they could. But that statement itself undermined how the production was originally presented as a fundraiser.... But all that said, I doubt they can do one or more NTLs at this point, because they would have had to announce them by now to get audiences for them.

Which leads back to our suspicions that this was as much about showcasing Tom as anything else. Witness this excerpt from a fan who saw it yesterday: "There are so many great moments in there, I still need to wrap my head around them all… Has anyone mentioned that he gets to dance? Suddenly, smack in the middle of Hamlet, there is Tom with his famous moves :) I loved that! And there’s a scene where he’s got warrior make up on and walks around wearing the Danish flag as a cape. Very punk rock. And another where his head’s covered with the hoodie. And he does a Scottish accent while holding the skull. It’s like a wonderful showcase of everything Tom knows and likes to do." (from the crazy smart one's tumblr)

Now I can't get the image of Hamlet doing snake hips out of my head!