What elevates Elsinore beyond standard biographical drama is Scott's personal artistic relationship with the exact material Charleson mastered. In 2017, Scott delivered an era-defining stage performance as Hamlet at the Almeida Theatre, directed by Robert Icke. That production, which later transferred to the West End and was broadcast by the BBC, stripped the role of declamatory bombast, replacing it with an intimate, conversational grief that rewired contemporary British theatrical norms.
Watching Scott interpret an actor who was himself interpreting Hamlet creates a layered commentary on performance itself. There is zero distance between the actor and the subject. Charleson famously saw Hamlet as an exploration of courage in the face of inevitable mortality; Scott brings decades of classical training to bear on every line reading, allowing audiences to view the tragedy through both modern queer history and classical verse.
