Thursday, November 11, 2010

ANOTHER VIEW OF HAMLET (5/15/2011)


I had attended a performance of Hamlet in an unconventional space and so I thought it would be interesting to attend a production in a more conventional setting. However, I would discover that this production also had its unusual aspects.  A production by the rebellious subjects theatre took place at the off-off Broadway theatre, The Tank.  The entire play was presented with no cuts but unfortunately, Hamlet's famous "To be, or not to be" soliloquy (which is not really a soliloquy) was given at the beginning without any dramatic reason.  The production took place in three different areas.  The first was the main stage area, a spare and  basic black-box theatre. The second was the stairwell behind the main stage and leading up to a secondary stage.  The movement of the cast and audience to these locations (finally moving back to the main stage) did break up the play but did not seem to have much dramatic significance.  In addition, from time to time photos of characters were projected onto a rear screen.  These were very brief and, again, their dramatic significance did not come across to me.

It was good to experience the entire play, although the production did not rise above a decent amateur production.  The actor playing Hamlet portrayed him as a neurotic, manic character.  The characters of Claudius and Gertrude were quite wooden and, unfortunately,  "Claudius" stumbled over his lines a couple of times.  The relationship between Hamlet and Horatio was the only convincing relationship established.

It would be nice to see a truly professional production of Hamlet at some time. 

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