PRINCIPAL CAST: Craig Crosbie (Laertes); John Drake (Claudius); Anthony May (Hamlet); Carl Oatley (Horatio); Amanda Orton (Ophelia); Edward Palmer (Polonius); Mary Yeomans (Gertrude).

The first performance of this production took place on 26 May 1982. This production was part of the Northcott Theatre, Exeter's repertory season which ran from 27 April - 17 June 1982. The season also included a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Othello and The Recruiting Officer, directed by Nicholas Hytner. As Stewart Trotter explained in the programme: "But why a repertory system? Well, there is no denying its excitement for actors which I hope will communicate to the public. We have a 'permanent' company of seventeen actors for the season: and each actor has agreen to undertake two main parts and two supports. This means you will see Thomas Baptiste as Othello one night - then as the coalman the next! It also means that we will have the highest standard of playing in even the smallest parts."

"Ingenious sliding stages which can encompass everything from a ghostly entrance or a tumbrill come to collect the shambles at the end, give the whole production a smoothness and continuity far removed from the rather heavy-handed going of some past revivals. Yet the deceptive technical simplicity serves to create an excellent and believable setting for a play staged in traditional Elizabethan style with most of the players performing the standard stock characters." ~ Harvey Crane, "Exeter: Hamlet/Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead", The Stage and Television Today, 17 June 1982: 26